Beautiful Soul: Stolen Reflection
by jellybean-kitty
Summary: Nothing seems to be going right for Kai. His business is failing and so is his relationship with Hilary. When a jaded popstar enlists his help he thinks she may provide the solution to his troubles. Little does he know they're only beginning.
1. Prologue

I know I said I wasn't going to, but I've changed my mind. I've decided to do a sequal to Beautiful Soul. However, it's not nessecary to have read the first story. If you want to know what happened, feel free to PM me or whatever and I'll recap. As for this one, I hope you guys like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade

Prologue

She was in a perfect disguise. Well, she thought she was, anyway. No one would recognise her, not even her own mother and that was exactly what she wanted today. Just a day to herself to be herself and not have anyone around her. Days like that were few and far between and whenever she had one it felt to her like a better holiday than any trip to the Caribbean or some other exotic place could be.

She pushed her huge sunglasses further up her face so that the only thing any passers by could see would be her mouth. On her head, she wore a headscarf that covered her trademark turquoise hair. She's gotten so carried away with hiding herself that she'd forgotten how suspicious she looked, going to such lengths on a day where even a bikini felt like too much clothes. Nonetheless, her plan had been successful as she walked along the unusually quiet streets of uptown Los Angeles without a care in the world. It was her day off and that meant she didn't need to worry about anything. Besides, she _paid_ people to do that for her so why should she bother? Why should she bother about anything? She was far too important to worry about that kind of humdrum thing. She was told so practically everyday.

She was passing an antique shop when the sight of her reflection caught her eye. It wasn't so much the reflection but what she was being reflected in. She stopped so suddenly than if anyone had been walking behind her they would have crashed into her back. She probably wouldn't have even noticed; her mind was somewhere else, trapped in the beauty of her reflection in that mirror.

It was strange. It was just a simple mirror with a slightly patterned frame which was obviously tinted in gold but not made from it. Still…the way her image was reflected was different. More real. She looked almost godly. Looking at her reflection was something she did everyday and several times. That was her job. To look good and make people love her. If she didn't, how could she possibly have been as successful as she had been? She would be the first person to admit that the singing for which she was famed for wasn't exactly the best in the business. No. She many things but a fool wasn't one of them. The thing that gave her fans was her persona. In their eyes, she was perfect in every way, from her hair, her face, her body to her personality. Put this with her ability to hold a tune and that gave the pubic the star before them. They were just to fickle to realise that the person they were in love with wasn't actually the real her. Not at all. She could be a bitch when she wanted to be and that happened everytime she was out of the public eye. However, so long as she kept that little titbit from them all would be well.

She came out of her thoughts and realised she was stroking the outline of the mirror in the shop window with her index finger. Embarrassed, she looked around her subtly to see if anyone had seen what the crazy lady in the oversized sunglasses was doing and was thankful that there had been no one around. Why was it that she was so drawn to this trashy item? It quite possibly the ugliest thing she'd ever seen…yet so beautiful. It made things look clearer to her, like the way they should be.

She had to have it!

She entered the shop with her chequebook on hand, preparing herself to fork out whatever price she had to buy it. After all, what she wanted she got. And she wanted that mirror.

* * *

The watcher, chuckled as the woman looked adoringly into her new purchase. He thought she would. It made sense for some one as conceited as her to fall for such a worthless item, so long as it showed her beauty. It wouldn't for long, and that thought was even more satisfying.

She was a fool to have crossed him in the past and she would pay for it with the one thing that had made her so successful, so appealing, so untouchable. He had ensured that.

However, she was only a small part of a much bigger vengeance plot, the cake on which a cherry would soon be placed. He knew her well enough to predict her future actions. That was the problem with celebrities. They _were_ predictable. They were afraid to break the mould incase their fans didn't like this new image. That was why everything would go according to his plan. The plan he'd been thinking up ever since he was crossed the first time. It hadn't been until the bubblegum pop princess had waltzed into his office had he seen the potential. In his business, he had to look for opportunities and exploit them to the full and that was exactly what he would do.

A crooked smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he tapped his driver's shoulder, indicating him to drive. He hadn't even been spotted by the woman, though she had looked around. That wasn't surprisingly. She was far too self obsessed to see anything but herself, let alone an indistinctive black Mercedes on a street where if you didn't have an expensive car you were liable to be given the cold shoulder.

Now it was time to go back to where it all began. It was time to get revenge on the one person who'd started it all, his downfall, so to speak. The person who'd created the vile revulsion inside of him whenever their name was mentioned. The person who'd _ruined_ his life. Yes, it was time to have his revenge.

But first, he wanted to see how things were turning out.

* * *

Please review!

jellybean-kitty


	2. Ugly

Hi guys! I'm starting to think making a sequal was sort of a bad idea. I'm reading this and thinking what the hell am I doing. I'm not sure. But I've started it now so I can't go back! I've introduced some of the substorylines and storylines in this chapter so I hope you guys enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade

Ugly 

Taking another sip from his mug of coffee, Kai Hiwatari picked up the top sheet of paper on the pile and looked at it wearily. Another bill to be filled in and another chip from his ever decreasing bank account. He shook his head and looked at his schedule for the day again. He'd already memorised it from that morning, but he was willing to do anything to get his mind of filling another Goddamn bill. Anyway, how hard is it to remember that you have no appointments for the day? He remembered only a year ago his business had been thriving with countless people forking out thousands of dollars to help their loved ones pass on to the next life but lately it seemed they were finding it cheaper to take matters into their own hands. Cheaper for them but costly for him.

He thought bitterly that this was just like the music industry only sped up. For years music could only be bought in shops but as technology advanced people decided to save their pennies by downloading it from free websites and that left the music industry in a bit of jam, finding that record sales were decreasing and new artists were being dropped when many people actually liked their music.

Right then, he felt as if it was he who had been dropped by his label. He just didn't understand it. If the people needing help had been alive, the relatives would gladly send them to a psychiatrist but when they're dead? Nope. It was acceptable to play the shrink themselves. Obviously it had to be working or there'd be lots of unhappy customers deciding that the professionals are best after all.

Maybe he was looking through the wrong window. After all, people in this modern world believed in modern ways. How many people do you pass down the street believe ghosts actually exist? Kai was pretty sure he could count the number on a single hand. What did they actually think when they saw spirits then? That they were dreaming? That they were delusional? That it was _them_ that needed the psychiatric help?

There was a knock on the door and Kai was relieved to finally have a break from finding an excuse not to fill in anymore bills.

The relief was gone when he saw who it was that was coming in. And the look on her face said trouble.

Hilary folded her arms and leaned against the door, not letting her ruby eyes leave Kai's. He could feel the coldness from them all the way across the room. "My parents were just on the phone there."

"Were they?" Kai asked, knowing what was coming. He tried to contain a sigh, at least until she left the room again. It was funny, but as his business was failing his relationship with his fiancé seemed to be too. It was partly his fault and he knew it.

She took a few steps towards him and the image of a dragon instantly came to Kai's mind. If she could, Hilary would probably be breathing fire right then. "Uhuh. Do you know what they asked me?" Kai shrugged. He knew the answer anyway but why stop her when she was on a roll? "They asked me has that Kai finally decided on a date for the wedding. Do you know what I had to say?" Again silence. "Not yet."

"Hil…"

"Don't 'Hil' me! When you proposed to me you promised we'd be married within a year! It's been almost two years now!" Though her will was strong, her face couldn't hold the anger and crumpled. Kai knew she hated to keep telling her parents that their big day's been put off again and he hated to do it. "Kai, I just want to have a date. That's all."

"Hilary," he said, getting up, "I love you and we're going to get married but business is continuing to be poor."

She turned her back to him and made for the door. "Business may be poor but you, Kai Hiwatari, are not."

She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. That was just like her to leave without letting him give her a reply. Sometimes he wondered why he'd even proposed to her in the first place but he quickly cast that thought away. It wasn't fair on her and he loved her really. He could understand why she was so upset over this too. After all, girls waited their whole life for that one magical day when they're joined to the man the love forever and when that day seems to be getting further and further away it must hurt like hell. If only he could make her understand. If only _he_ could understand. It just didn't seem right. It felt like something was coming, something which he would need no distractions to deal with.

* * *

Garnet Granger sat at the reception desk filing her nails and trying to make it look as if she wasn't listening in to Hilary and Kai's argument even though it sounded like one of their better ones. She would need to have another word with her boss about this and it wouldn't be the first time. He was being totally selfish and it wasn't fair on her having to listen to their rows all the time. Besides what if potential clients came in and heard that commotion? A psychiatrist who can't even handle his own problems? Some portrait to paint yourself.

She sighed loudly as Hilary left the office looking considerably upset. "Didn't go well, did it?" Instead of answering her, Hilary just looked at her helplessly and walked past.

Garnet groaned outwardly. That was her chance to get some entertainment and now she had nothing. What was there to do here when there were no clients to help or no phone calls to direct? She was almost wishing she had some files to sort or if Tyson was here they could try and throw paper balls at things. Where was her cousin anyway, she wondered to herself, just when she needed him the most?

There was a tingle in the air from the bell above the door as the front door opened and Garnet looked up in amazement that they actually had a potential client in the very room. She hadn't seen one of those in weeks!

"Hello," Garnet said in her most prim voice, "welcome to Paranormal Psychiatrists. Do you have an appointment?" She knew they wouldn't but procedure was procedure.

The woman who'd just came in looked at her with disgust, or what Garnet assumed to be disgust since most of her face was covered with huge over-the-top sunglasses and there was a scarf around her neck which covered her mouth. Garnet couldn't help but think it was weird she should be so covered up when the sun was blazing in the sky.

"I don't _make_ appointments to see people!" The woman spat.

Immediately Garnet disliked this woman. If there was one thing she hated in the entire world it was people who were more brattier than her. Therefore it was her solemn duty to but this person in her place.

"If you want to see one of our highly qualified doctors then you do."

The woman sighed impatiently. "What's the point? It's not like you have any other customers. I want to see the head honcho here. I need the _best_ on my case."

Gritting her teeth, Garnet forced herself to smile, though it came out more like a grimace. "If you could just wait here I'll see if Mr. Hiwatari is free at the moment."

"I don't _wait_ for people," she said, "people wait for me."

Holding her head up high, the woman walked right past reception and into the corridor where the offices were. "Wait!" Garnet called. "You can't just _walk_ in!"

She tilted her head in Garnet's direction so she revealed one glasses covered eye. "Watch me."

She confidently strode into the office of Kai Hiwatari and sat down on the chair in front of his desk. She didn't need to be invited to sit down. She crossed her legs and folded her hands neatly onto her lap as if she was about to be interviewed on live television. Inside her scarf, she smiled at who she assumed to be Kai's expression of bewilderment and then his questioning glance at the stupid receptionist. She could hear the poor girl blubbering out apologies and how 'I couldn't stop her'. Of course she couldn't. No one could stop Ming Ming.

The doctor himself was almost as good looking as she was and that pleased her. She hated dealing with ugly people. They made her uncomfortable. He had thick two toned hair that was kept neatly gelled and his eyes had an unusual crimson colour that she'd never seen before. From judging by his appearance she could tell that he took pride in what he wore and that he worked out. If things went well she might even get a view of his six pack, which she assumed he had. And so young too! She guessed he must be in his early twenties at the most which begged the question why he had been able to become a psychiatrist being so young. As far as she knew such courses took years to do to become fully qualified. Maybe he took one of those home courses. Anyway, who was she to complain? It wasn't exactly his psychology skills she was after, after all. It was more his _abilities_ that held her interest.

Her eyes then fell to the silver engagement ring on his finger and she mentally swore. So it seemed that there was soon to be a Missus Hiwatari. That hadn't been something she'd uncovered in her research. Well, no matter. It had never stopped her in the past.

For him, she decided smiles and giggles would be far more likely to convince him to help her. Plus the fat cheque she was willing to pay would seal the deal. "_Mister_ Hiwarari – may I call you Kai? So Kai I have this majorly big problem that I need you to take care of. You see, I have this _huge_ concert to perform in two weeks time and recently there have been quite a few glitches, mainly about my appearance. I'd be _so_ grateful if you would help me out. I'd pay you, of course." She went into her handbag and fished out a cheque which she placed on his desk, smiling sweetly all the while.

Kai picked it up and stared at it with little humour. "It says one dollar."

"That's so you can fill in all the zeros you want." She tossed her hair back. "Money's no matter to me."

"Uhuh," Kai said, "Who exactly are you again?"

For a brief moment the smile disappeared and Kai had a glimpse of the devil within. "I'm Ming Ming, world famous musician. Loved by all and all is loved. You've heard of me."

"Yeah…sure. Anyway, you said that you have a problem that's to do with your appearance. What makes you think we can help?"

Her hands twitched on her lap and then they removed her sunglasses and scarf. She heard Kai make a short intake of breath and she didn't blame him. _Anyone_ would be surprised to see her, or maybe horrified's the better word?

For all he knew about this popstar (which wasn't much) he knew that she was one of the most gorguess girls in the industry and what he saw before him was not gorguess at all. In fact it was the very antithesis of gorguess. Her eyes had sunken in and her skin was beginning to fold over on her cheeks. Even her hair was wiry and he could see flakes of dandruff littering the scalp like deformed snowflakes. He would have loved to say that appearance didn't matter to him, but on this occasion he felt repulsion far greater than anything he'd ever known.

There was only one word to describe her and 'ugly' seemed the best fitting.

"You see Kai, something's doing this to me! I just know it is. This is no medical condition, this is something supernatural and I don't know what to do! I can't go on stage like this! Do you know what would happen to me? I'd be dropped. My label would drop me like I'm hot and my life would be over."

Kai shook his head. "How do you know for sure that it's something supernatural? It _could _be a medical condition. Have you even gone to see your doctor yet?"

"No," she admitted softly. "I couldn't risk it. If anyone sees me like this they'll think I'm a fake. A fraud. I can't let that happen and I won't let that happen. So you see why I've come here? I've been interested in your business since it started up. I mean people who can see and talk to the dead? Uberly cool! I've collected every magazine article, every newspaper clipping and basically anything that's come up about you guys and I hoped one day I'd be able to go to you for help and see you in action and I guess I've got my chance now. But to be honest I'd have rather just been haunted or something. Anyway, I know almost everything about you guys. Even that little incident over a year ago with that Craig East guy."

"Wait a minute," Kai said, frowning. "You've not gone to your doctor because you want to see if we could help you first? You don't even knew wither its supernatural or not! And anyway, we don't specialise in things like this. We deal with _ghosts_ Miss Ming. I thought you knew everything about this place."

"Ming Ming."

Kai frowned deeper. "What?"

"That's my first name. Ming Ming."

"What's your second name?"

"Oh please. _I_ don't need one."

There was a splutter at the doorway and Kai saw Garnet in tears of laughter. He glared at her but she didn't notice. She continued to giggle, holding her sides which where beginning to ache. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She said in between bursts. "I'll go out, this is too much!"

Kai noticed Ming Ming looked furious and decided he should probably try to console her, mainly because he didn't want to have a cat fight in his lobby. "I'm sorry about her. She's…weird. But back to you, how is it that you know it's supernatural? As far as I'm aware, there's no solid proof. For all you know it could just be stage make up taking its toll on your skin or something?"

The popstar rolled her eyes impatiently. "Look, I only ever use the finest products. There's no _way_ that they're the cause of this. Be honest with me, Kai. You're a doctor or sorts, right. Even if you're not fully qualified or whatever. The point is you're a doctor, so you went to some sort of medical school. Have you _ever_ seen something like this in your entire life?"

"No…"

"My point is made."

Kai looked again at the one beautiful woman in front of him. For all her skin might be hideous, her eyes were still bright and sparkling. He could see that there was also a knowing, mischievous and clever. How much did she really know about him and his friends? He never really expected some one with such a busy schedule to have time to research in such great proportions. And especially for a popstar like her. From what he'd experienced, it was only the super nerdy kids who spent all their free time gathering information about ghosts and see-ers and things.

"Anyway," She continued, her mischief becoming evident in her sagging mouth, "I know how we can tell if there are forces at work here or not. Like I said, I've done my homework."

Kai cocked an eyebrow. He couldn't help it but now he was intrigued. Just what did she have up her sleeve that was so ingenious that twisted her face into something that was supposed to be a smirk.

"We do a spell!"

Slapping a hand to his forehead, he groaned. With this girl he could see that this was going to be a long, long day.

* * *

Please review!

jellybean-kitty


	3. The Spell

I'd like to thank Jess for reviewing, since I couldn't reply personally.

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade

The Spell 

Ming Ming watched the pink haired girl who was introduced as Mariah – though she needed no introduction – as she put various bits and pieces into a glass bowl and swirled it around with her right index finger.

"Why don't you just use a spoon?" Ming Ming asked. "It'll stop your finger getting all icky."

This wasn't the first question the popstar had put to Mariah since they'd decided to go ahead with her spell and it wasn't the first question for her to reply, "that's what it says we do," in a highly irritated tone.

Sighing Mariah turned the page of the spellbook. "Okay, this is the most important part. You can _not_ speak at all or we have to start all over again." Ming Ming made a zipping motion with her fingers on her lips and winked charmingly. Mariah just rolled her eyes. "_Hecate I summon you to show us where your magic calls. Hecate summonedus vie macite anondus aqquis. Hecate I summon you to show us where your magic calls-"_

"You've said that bit already," Ming Ming whispered, frowning slightly even though it was almost impossible to tell with he current facial arrangement. She shut up again when Mariah glared at her.

"_Hecate summonedus vie macite anondus aqquis. __Mother earth, give your wisdom. Madres terra, holicite opostre. Show us where on your terrain magic has been cast. Vie macite terracite dondvito."_

"Hey!" Ming Ming exclaimed. "Is that _Latin_ you're speaking? That's so awesome!"

Mariah slammed down the spell book. "No it's not Latin. I don't know what language it is. I only read it." She realised what she'd jsut done and slapped her forehead. "Urgh! Now I have to start again!"

"Why?"

She screamed and left her office, walking directly into Kai's strong shoulders. Kai had been waiting outside to see how things would turn out and was more than aware of Mariah becoming more and more irritated by their new client. Needless to say, he'd expected this tantrum. "You're my cousin, Kai, and I love you but if you make me try and work with that annoying little teeny bopper again I will kill you. No joke. I will cut your throat while you sleep."

"Come on," Kai said, trying to reason with her. She didn't know how important this was for him. And his bankroll. "Just try one more time. I'll have a word with her and I promise she'll behave."

"You know this sort of thing wasn't in the job description. I'm not a Wicca for crying out loud. I see dead people. That's it. Why you always use me whenever we have to do anything hocus pocus-y I don't know but it's really annoying, especially when you have to work with the princess in there and her stupid little questions." She lowered her voice so that Kai had to lean in to hear it. "If there was one person I would gladly punch, it would that creature in their."

Trying not to chuckle or even smile, Kai put his hands on her shirted shoulder and walked her back into the room. He could feel the rise and fall of her enraged breath and could almost imagine the forced smile as she faced Ming Ming again. Ming Ming, on the other hand was reading the spell book, trying to produce the words. Mariah shrieked and grabbed the book from her, glaring at Kai as she held it to her chest like a child whose favourite toy had been used by another.

"Look, Ming Ming, you can't read from that book unless you know what you're doing. You could cast some sort of spell or something that could be really hard to undo." Ming Ming looked at Kai innocently and he could feel his skin crawl. That kind of look was not intended from some one whose skin was practically hanging of their face but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind. It wouldn't do to hold prejudices now. "I need you to shut up for the next half hour or so, or at least until Mariah tells you its okay to talk again. If you distract her one more time it's off. Mariah is the only member of the staff who knows how to perform spells so if she quits on you, you're pretty much stuck that way for your big concert."

"Couldn't we just gag her and save us all the trouble?" Mariah suggested, smiling sweetly in Ming Ming's directly.

Ming Ming jutted out her lip and folded her arms like a little girl in a huff but, thankfully, she didn't say anything. Mariah gave Kai a sideways glance that indicated she didn't think the silence would last long. Kai merely shrugged and walked out, leaving them to it.

With all her rage nearly gone, Mariah let out a breathe of air using a calming technique she'd learned when she and Garnet had tried yoga. It worked. She felt ready to go again. Opening her spell book at the marked page, she began the incantation again, swirling the contents of the bowl with her finger a she'd been doing before the interruption.

"_Hecate I summon you to show us where your magic calls. __Hecate summonedus vie macite anondus aqquis. __Hecate I summon you to show us where your magic calls. Hecate summonedus vie macite anondus aqquis. Mother earth, give your wisdom. Madres terra, holicite opostre. Show us where on your terrain magic has been cast. Vie macite terracite dondvito. Give us the power to reveal. Seregati stret revealsion." _

Mariah raised the bowl to her lips and took a sip of the contents, grimacing at the foul taste of the sandalwood, thyme, garlic and tea leaves. She then glanced nervously at Ming Ming who looked utterly disgusted. She had a feeling there might be some protests on her part about drinking the concoction and there had been a moment of hesitation as Ming Ming accepted the bowl. Deciding it must be for the greater good, she drank some, gritting her teeth afterwards to get rid of the taste.

She took the bowl back off of Ming Ming and placed it in the centre of the pentagram that had been drawn out with chalk. Then she lit a match and used it to set the five candles at the five points aflame. Lastly, she dropped the match into the bowl where it sizzled out and closed her eyes, murmuring some incantation that Ming Ming couldn't make out.

Smoke began to rise from the bowl and the candles until there was a congregation in the centre of the pentagram. Slowly, it began to drift towards her like a snake through long grass. Ming Ming squeezed her eyes shut tightly as she felt it creep in through her nostrils as she breathed in and very soon it felt as if it had taken over her entire body. She no longer had control of her breathing and found herself wheezing as she tried to get more much needed oxygen to her lungs. Her eyes snapped open in panic and she found she could no longer see through the smoke. It was like a mist had formed in her eyes to veil the world from her sight.

She wasn't even aware she was screaming until she felt Kai shaking her shoulders and yelling at her in words she couldn't make out. She continued to scream until she fell into Kai's arms, sobbing on his shoulder with her eyes tightly shut again.

"Jesus Christ Mariah!" Kai exclaimed as he sat Ming Ming back up. "What the hell happened?"

Mariah smiled like she'd achieved something no one else had ever done before. "The spell worked. Look at her skin. It's glowing." Ming Ming opened her eyes and looked at her hands which were indeed glowing like there were lightbulbs under her skin. It looked as if they were about to go out, however. "She was right. Sort of."

"What do you mean 'sort of'?" Kai asked.

"Well, you see how it's only a faint light she's giving off?" Kai grunted his response. "Well that indicates that a spell wasn't cast on _her_, as such. But she has been affected by magic. In short, what's happening to her _isn't_ natural! There _is_ a magical element!"

"Why do you seem so excited about that?" Ming Ming complained in a childish whine. "This is a disaster! I mean, how would you like to look like this when normally you're one of the sexiest women on the planet: as voted for by the men of FHM," she added with a wink.

The pinkette smiled apologetically even though she wasn't sorry at all. "This is a whole new area we're researching in. I'm just a little excited about finding out some new things and dealing with some new problems."

"I see," she replied flatly.

"But," Mariah continued, "that doesn't mean we're any closer to solving your problem. I think what's happened is that some one's cast a spell that you'll interact with on a regular basis so that each time you do, this happens. In which case, we're looking for a familiar, it would seem."

The popstar looked dismayed and indignant. "But who would do something like that?"

"Who wouldn't?" quipped Garnet as she walked past Mariah's office with a handful of paper and Ming Ming glared at Garnet's back with real venom, narrowing her eyes.

Kai perched himself on Mariah's desk and folded his arms, furrowing his brow in thought. "Think carefully. Is there anyone you've crossed lately you threatened to get their own back?"

"Well, yeah. I could print you off a list of names because I wouldn't be able to think of them _all_ of them top of my head."

"Just how many people are we talking about here?"

"Weeeeelll, there's ex-boyfriends, co stars, backing singers, members of the band, make up artists, hair people, my publisists – all of the above when I've fired them have threatened to get back at me. There're also the people I've dropped when they're not needed anymore."

Kai stared at her for a few seconds, not quite believing some one so well loved could be so despised. "So in other words this could take forever."

"I suppose it doesn't really matter _who_ did it. If we can find out what is carrying the spell and nullify it, it should be alright." Mariah frowned. "That doesn't stop it happening again, though, which seems very likely. Besides even if we did find out who it was, we're powerless to do anything. You can't very well exorcise a person, can you?" Kai cleared his throat and Mariah smiled sheepishly. "Well you were an exception."

The three of them went silent for a few moments until they could figure out what to do. For one thing, Kai knew he was being paid handsomely for this and as such he wanted to make sure it was carried it with the highest dedication. What exactly did that mean for him? He could get everyone involved but that might not even be necessary. Or it might, depending on what was asked of them. Certainly he could ask Kenny – their computer expert and chief researcher – to find out what he could about spells that steal your beauty. That way they could find the counter spell to nullify it, which Mariah would more than likely carry out. They could take Ming Ming to Mathilda who owned a voodoo shop and had proved to have been more than helpful to them in the past. She might be able to protect their client from further attacks.

"Okay," he said. "This is the plan. What we're going to do is get Kenny, our researcher," he added for Ming Ming's benefit, "to find out what the most likely spell and cause of this is. Then he can find the counter spell. After that, I'll take you to our friend Mathilda who can maybe do something to protect you from magic in the future, which I think would be very beneficial, on your part.

"Anyway, I don't think we'll need you anymore today. Come back tomorrow morning and we'll let you know what we've found out." He took her hand and smiled into her eyes. "You are our top priority."

He held that pose for several seconds until she broke it off with a few giggles. "Okay, so I'll be back tomorrow. Thanks for your help so far, Kai. I _really_ appreciate it."

Smiling at her, Kai and Mariah watched as left Mariah's office and kept their positions until the bell above the door had tingled and Garnet had given the all clear. Their smiles immediately collapsed into grimaces.

"She's the most annoying person I've ever met," Kai said. "You should have just done a spell to banish her and do the world a favour."

"How did it go with Miss Ming-Times-Two?" Garnet asked, laughing. "She certainly looked pleased as she left. The look I got made it seem like she only wanted me to die painfully instead of going to hell for torture as well."

"Don't even _go_ there!"

"She kept interrupting Mariah's spell," Kai explained. "But we've made progress, believe it or not. We know that its magic that's affecting her so we know how to find out what it is. If anyone can do that for us, it's Kenny."

"He'll love that!" Mariah giggled. "He totally wants in her pants. He's her 'biggest fan'." She cast a sly look at Kai. "Unfortunately, Ming-Times-Two wants in Kai's. Actually, we probably should have introduced them today. Spoiled his illusion that Ming the Merciless is God on Earth. When he sees her face he's gonna _freak_!"

"I don't know," Garnet said, "they say that love is blind, and Kenny literally almost is if you take his glasses away."

"While you two are bitching, I'm going to go pay the Chief a visit and see what he can do for us."

They waved him off without giving much attention and kept cackling like old crones as they cracked jokes at their client's expense. Kai rolled his eyes at the antics of girls. Even when they were 'mature', they never gave up a good opportunity for a bitching session. He came to Kenny's office and was about to knock on the closed door when he heard the sound of Hilary and Kenny having what sounded like a serious chat. He knew eavesdropping was wrong, but he couldn't help himself. Besides, if it was him they were talking about he had every right to know.

"I just don't get it, Kenny," Hilary complained in a hushed voice. "If he says he loves me why doesn't he just prove it? I _know_ he's got enough money to last him a lifetime. I know it for a fact. That's why I don't believe all this bullshit about the business being poor and what not. I think that's pretty reasonable, don't you?"

Kenny seemed to fidget uncomfortably. "I don't know. Kai's…just Kai. You can never really understand why he does what he does. You have to remember his upbringing was pretty messed up. Maybe he doesn't want his kids to be raised like that."

"We don't even have kids yet. We're talking about a _wedding_ for Christ sake! We don't need to worry about children until years from now. I think he just doesn't want to get married and I don't know if it's not because of who's suppose to be his bride."

"Hilary," Kenny's voice was sympathetic. "I can guarantee you that that's not the case. This is Kai we're talking about. Not Tyson. Kai wouldn't rush into something without knowing that it's right. I could just be that he's not ready and if that's the case you have to accept that."

"But I don't want to!"

"You _have_ to. You two are going to be happy together once Kai gets over what it is he's getting over. You'll see. Then you'll come to me and say how right I was."

"I guess," Kai could hear the smile in Hilary's voice and realised that it had been a long time since he'd heard it around him. The thought came accompanied by a jagging feeling of guilt.

He took this opportunity to knock on the door and once he was granted entrance he walked into the office, trying to be as normal as he could so they didn't realise he'd been listening to their conversation. Part of him felt bad that he had been so sneaky but the other part didn't care. He was glad to have found out what Hilary was really thinking. Now that he did, he'd have to think of a way to change that _without_ actually taking the plunge. It was not time yet. He'd know when it was. He was confident of that.

Kai cleared his throat. He could feel Hilary's gaze burning into him but for some reason he couldn't meet her eyes. Instead he directed the whole conversation to Kenny, well aware that this would probably look like he was in a mood with his fiancé. "We've got a new client in with an unusual problem. It's nothing like we normally do and by which I mean no ghosts are involved at all. There's a problem with her face. All the beauty seemed to be draining from it like nothing I've ever seen before."

"Is it medical linked?" Hilary asked.

"_Please_ don't interrupt me, Hilary," Kai said before he even knew the words were out. Hilary's eyes widened in initial shock then hurt. "I-I'm sorry." He saw her look at Kenny in a secretive way and he wondered how much of the conversation he'd missed. He could tell Kenny felt uncomfortable being in the middle of this so he decided not to pursue it any further until they were alone. "Anyway, she's really fascinated by what we do, so she decided to come to us because she thought we'd be able to help her. So Mariah did a spell on her which proved that there are magical links between her condition and what Mariah called a 'familiar'. What that means is that the spell's not been cast directly on the client but instead on something the client would interact with on a regular basis.

"That's where you come in, Kenny. I need you to research spells which take away a person's beauty via a familiar. She'll be coming back in tomorrow to see what we've found so if you could get to work on it right away that would be great."

Kenny nodded and was about to go to his computer when Hilary frowned. "Are you finished?" Kai felt the sharp tone in her voice cut him like a knife but nodded anyway. "Who exactly _is_ this client?"

"Her name is Ming Ming. She's a popstar."

Kenny suddenly collapsed off his chair and fell onto the carpeted floor beneath him.

"Shit," Hilary said, peering at his body. She then looked up at Kai. "I think he just fainted."

* * *

Please review! 

jellybean-kitty


	4. Promises

I hope you guys like this Kai/Hil scene that's coming up. There may not be much action, but I think it's sort of sweet!

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade

Promises 

It took fifteen minutes and a cold compress to finally get Kenny to wake up again and when he did he looked around himself, first in confusion and then embarrassment when he realised what had happened. Kai, Hilary, Garnet and Mariah all stood over him looking concerned while Ray, Max, Tyson and Tala stood ready to get another compress or to call an ambulance, if that's what it took. Kenny blinked several times to clear up his fuzzy vision and realised it wasn't helping anyway. In a panic, he raised his hands to his face to see if he could make them out.

"If you're looking for your glasses they're on the computer desk. We thought we should take them off-" (Garnet huffed at this) "-okay, _Garnet_ thought we should take them off increase they get broken." Kai handed them to Kenny. "What exactly happened? We were just talking and you collapsed."

Kenny blushed a red the colour of ripe tomatoes. "Sorry about that guys. I just thought you said we had _Ming Ming_ as a new client. I got a bit of a shock."

Garnet rolled her eyes bitterly at Mariah who craftily turned a giggle into a cough. She smiled brightly. "Take a deep breath Chief 'cause that's what he _did_ say."

"So what you said about her losing her beauty, you actually mean?" Kai nodded sombrely. "That's bullshit! There's no way Ming Ming could look like anything but a Goddess!"

"Except the Goddess of Ugliness," Garnet muttered.

Kenny's eyes darkened behind his bespectacled face and Garnet felt slightly scared for her life. "What?!"

"Umm…Wait until you see her tomorrow?" She smiled sweetly.

"Well," Hilary said coyly, "let's just say – for argument's sake – that Ming Ming did happen to lose her beauty. _Obviously_ it couldn't be natural since she's oh-so-pretty or whatever. Therefore, it's your duty, nay, you're _privilege_ to be able to help her out in anyway you can, right?" Kenny seemed to mull this over in his mind. "And let's say she, per say, had a spell cast on her. Don't you think she'd be eternally grateful to the person who broke it for her? You, Kenneth the Super Genius of the World, would be wholly responsible for breaking the spell and returning her to her former glory and I don't think that's something she'd forget anytime soon. So what do you say?"

Kenny looked from Hilary to Kai to Garnet to Mariah and then back to Hilary. "I say let's do it."

"That's the spirit," Hilary said, winking. "If you're ready to start now we'll just leave you to it." Kenny nodded eagerly so she began to usher everyone out of his office, half of whom had no idea what was going on or what had gone on earlier. It seemed she wasn't the only one who was being neglected by Kai these days and it lifted her mood slightly.

When all other members of staff decided to gather in the staffroom so Garnet and Mariah could tell them about their latest client – they could tell Kai wasn't pleased at this suggestion but seeing as there would probably not be another one anytime soon allowed the reception to be unmonitored (Garnet reasoned there was a bell on the desk that could be rung if they didn't hear the bells above the door) – Hilary felt the familiar grip of Kai's hand on her wrist and knew she was about to miss the story.

He pulled her close towards him and their faces became so close she thought he was going to kiss her. It was short lived though as she pushed him away, her intention being to let him know she was still mad at his attitude towards her. She'd vowed to herself that she was never going to let another man walk all over her after Craig East and she knew that inside she was strong enough to do it. She wasn't just some toy of Kai's he could abuse and then expect it to be there when he wanted it. No. She was a woman who knew how to stand up for herself and would.

"That comment you made to me was unacceptable, Kai," she said, her voice seething. It had been a long time since she had felt this mad and she intended on letting Kai know it. "I didn't say anything in front of Kenny to save us both the embarrassment but now that we're along I think you should know that I'm not happy at all. That was both degrading and down right rude. I'm not a child, for God's sake so don't talk to me like I'm one."

To her annoyance Kai didn't lower his eyes in shame as she'd expected him too. She supposed that would have been submitting on his part. But she could tell that he was sorry. He didn't need to say anything for her to know that. However, sometimes sorry just couldn't cut it. She felt humiliated at having been spoken to in such a manner. Her _parents_ wouldn't even have spoken to her like that, and that was saying something. Now that she was on the subject, she wondered if East even would have.

"I don't mean to treat you like a child and I didn't mean to say it. I'm not exactly having and easy time at the moment and I know that's not an excuse to take things out on you." She rolled her eyes and he knew listening to him was like listening to a broken record. "I know I've been an asshole lately." He wanted her to disagree with him but looking at her he knew she had no means to since she obviously agreed. She wasn't the only one to either. It had been Garnet who'd told him so initially, followed by every other staff member, in one way or another. "Can you at least let me make it up to you?"

"Making it up to me in your mind normally involves something that you're going to enjoy as well."

It wasn't pleasant to see how cold her normally warm presence had become. "It'll be your choice. Anything you want to do and we'll do it."

"Are you sure that wouldn't break your bank balance?" She replied nastily and Kai – seeing the venom in her eyes – saw how she must see him right now. The image of Ebenezer Scrooge came to mind and it wasn't a very pleasant one. She took a few breaths to calm herself down and then said, "it's been so long since we've done something together."

"That's why I think we should. You know, rekindle our flame or whatever it is you call it."

She bit her lip and Kai thought she was seriously contemplating on declining but eventually she nodded. "Okay, but there's a few requirements I'm going to set out for you. One – any questions I ask you have to answer truthfully. Two- all expenses are on you. Three – you don't talk about your work unless it ties in with number one."

"Deal."

"Shake on it." As they shook hands, Kai wondered just what it was he was getting himself into. Getting the third degree from Hilary didn't sound like his idea of a fun filled evening but he guessed he didn't have any other choice than to go through with it. "I'm going to change. I'll be down in ten minutes."

In less that seven, she had appeared at the foot of the stairs where Kai and his crew lived. It made things a lot easier for them since they had the whole building to themselves, especially after it had almost burned down a year ago and extensive refurbishment had gone on to bring it back to its former glory. Needless to say, they were not disappointed. They still had their bedrooms and general living area on the floor above and the offices on the floor below plus parking outside. It was a pretty good set up and was located near some of the most up-class businesses in L.A, which was probably the main reason why Kai had leased and then bought the building in the first place.

The outfit Hilary had chosen to wear was very simple but classy. She had on skinny fit jeans which showed of her slender hips and legs with a simple black vest top. On top of her jeans she wore heeled black leather boots which made her look like some high profiled celebrity. It seemed Ming Ming fever was spreading. Suddenly, Kai wished he'd changed too since he was still wearing the suit he'd had on at work. The only change he'd made was the five minutes in the bathroom doing his teeth and hair.

Hilary quirked an eyebrow as if asking him if he was ready and he held out his arm for Hilary to slip her hand through to show that he was. A feeling of warmth spread through him as he remembered the days when they'd just gotten engaged after only knowing each other for a few weeks. He remembered the night he proposed well since he had almost died afterwards trying to save Hilary and himself from her deranged ex-boyfriend, Craig East. Now he didn't have anything to worry about since an exorcism performed on East's spirit had ensured that he went to hell, not passing go and not collecting two hundred dollars. Those days had been amazing, full of love and laughter. Where had it gone? Was it actually possible that the flamed had died out and all that they were holding onto was the embers of something that once was?

Maybe it was the independence Hilary had obtained once she'd regained her body and no longer walked his corridors as spirit in need of help. When she was in a coma, she had relied on Kai to help her wake up from it and then to protect her from East. With all that over and done with, she was able to stand on her own two feet and it was like she didn't even need him anymore. Sure, he was her boss and everything now that she had decided to work with them in aiding people who may be in the same position as she had been, but apart from asking him questions about work that was all she ever needed him around for. He'd never been aware he was attracted to the damsels in distress but it almost seemed that way. Perhaps he just needed a girl who needed him and watching Hilary as she led him to God knew where, it was clear that she needed no one.

"Do you know where we're going?" Kai asked hesitantly. She seemed to be in good spirits for once and the last thing he wanted to do was to take her out of them.

She, however, giggled mysteriously and placed her forefinger on her lip to say it was a secret. "Firstly, we'll stop somewhere and take out pizzas. Next, we'll pick up a bottle of wine and finally we'll go somewhere special."

Kai was intrigued. Surprises generally weren't Hilary's thing, though she loved to receive them. Surely, he thought it must be good. She wouldn't get so excited over nothing.

They stopped in a take away restaurant to pick up a large margarita pizza to share between them and then Kai popped into a wine shop and picked up a bottle of Moet et Chandon and also some glasses and a corkscrew. Being able to buy alcohol legally now was strange. He'd been able to set up his own business _and_ get a degree in psychology – albeit no a college one – when he was only a teenager but it was only in the past month he could buy alcohol without a fake ID. To him it made no sense but who was he to complain?

He held the bottle up for Hilary's approval and she nodded. "Where is it you want to go? Is it far because the pizzas will get cold?"

"It's not far," she said vaguely and carried on walking leaving Kai to follow behind her with the bags.

Soon, the streets began to get more and more familiar as they passed restaurants Kai knew and favoured. He suddenly thought he had an idea where she was taking him and smiled slightly. If that was the case it was just like Hilary to think it up. She always knew the right places to go to set the mood. That was one of the many things he knew he loved about her. As he had suspected, Hilary took him down a little pathway which soon turned to marble the further down they went. He fully recognised the place as if it was only yesterday he had last been here instead of two years ago. Not much had changed about it. The ground lights still illuminated the path and the water fountain with its lovers centrepiece still sprouted its water. The gentle sound of it was the only thing that disturbed the silence and almost sacredness of this place.

The last time he'd been here and the first time for Hilary had been when he'd proposed. It seemed like so long ago and he guessed that it really was. He'd let so much pass him by that he hadn't even realised what he'd been doing.

He took a seat on the edge of the fountain and Hilary beside them. While she took out the pizza he uncorked the wine and poured them each a glass. It was so beautiful here and as Hilary looked up at the stars in the night sky he saw how beautiful she was too. Right then and there he wished he could just shout his vows to her and be married to her, owning her as she would own him. He knew that it just wasn't going to work that way.

They ate and drank in silence, just taking in the peace and quiet which they didn't get too often. It was mainly stress and aggravation that dominated their lives lately. To have moments like this when they didn't have to care about anything was like being in heaven. Kai knew that: he'd almost been there.

When she'd eaten his fill, Hilary set down her glass. "I want to do it here." Kai looked at her but she was too busy looking at the path which led to a larger and more open area. "Right here."

She got up and walked steadily down the path with her hands folded in front of her as if she was holding something and Kai knew immediately what she was imagining. He could almost see her wearing an elegant white dress and Mariah and Garnet held her train as she walked with Mariam Heart – Max's girlfriend and close friend of Hilary's after she helped her expose East – walking serenely behind. He could see them wearing deep purple dresses that had no sleeves on them and simple silver heels.

"The bridesmaids will be in purple," Kai said, playing along with her. "Mariah and Garnet will hold your dress as you walk down to meet me, arm in arm with your father. Mariam will be behind you with a basket of flowers in her hands, sprinkling the ground you've just walked on with rose petals." He walked ahead of her and stood underneath an archway covered in bright flowers that smelled sweet, but not as sweet as his bride. "Pachabel's 'Canon in D Major' will play."

"You're reading my mind!" Hilary laughed happily and took Kai's arm. "The minister will stand just in front of us while the string quartet plays softly in the background. We'll say our vows to each other and Tala will give you the rings."

Kai took her hand and pretended to push a ring onto her wedding finger. "With this ring, I thee wed."

Hilary giggled, feeling as though the wine had gone straight to her head. "Then, I'll toss my bouquet into the crowd," she pretended to do this and imagined it being caught by her grandmother.

"Then," Kai scooped Hilary off the ground so he could carry her bridal style. She squealed in horrified delight and clasped her hands tightly around his neck. "I'll carry you down to where the photographer's waiting to take our pictures."

"Everyone will be happy."

"Us, especially."

They looked at each other with a longing neither of them knew they had. "Oh Kai," Hilary said sighing. "When's it going to happen? It's all very well planning this out but _when_?"

"It'll have to happen in summer," Kai said. "You'll want the flowers to bloom, right?" She nodded. "Then it'll happen next summer."

Her eyes widened and then narrowed suspiciously. "This isn't the wine talking, is it?"

"I _promise_ you, it isn't. I can't give you the date now, but I can tell you that it's going to happen next year in the summer months."

He kissed her softly and she knew immediately that he wasn't lying. This was for real. The only other time she'd felt this happy was when he'd proposed to her in the first place. Her eyes closed as her fingers entwined around his neck and in that moment they belonged to each other and nothing else in the world mattered to them.

* * *

Please review! 

jellybean-kitty


	5. Stolen Reflection

Sorry its taken longer to past this than I said but my computer wasn't working but I've got a laptop now so all should be well:P

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade

Stolen Reflection 

Ray Kon found himself smiling as he watched Hilary float around the staff room the next morning as if she didn't have a care in the world. It made a vast difference compared to the sombre and occasionally moody version they'd been exposed too as a result of Kai being a prick. He knew everything that had been going on between then, including the way Kai had a habit of just snapping at her for no reason other than his patience was short with her. Hilary didn't deserve that from Kai. She didn't deserve it from _anyone_. What really got to Ray was that Kai – having helped her a couple of years ago – knew that Hilary's last relationship hadn't been smooth sailing, after all, her boyfriend _did_ put her in a coma and that sort of affected a relationship. Even though he knew this, Kai was still treating her like crap. At least Craig East was nice to her before Hilary found out his secret and he had to silence her. The same couldn't be said for Kai, at least until last night.

He heard it well because his bedroom was just above the entrance and even though it past midnight, he hadn't been sleeping. Mariah had been in, after all. Kai and Hilary had come in laughing (slightly drunkenly) and saying how much they loved each other and all those sort of things couples do when they've had one too many. They'd made quite a racket trying to negotiate the stairs up to their living area so he probably wasn't the only person to have heard them. He wondered what it was that had put them both in good spirits. Well, now was as good a time as any to find out.

"What are you so happy about?" He asked her and she stopped humming the little song that was bound to be stuck in Ray's head all day.

She smiled secretly. "Oh, nothing. I'm just in a good mood today."

Ray narrowed his eyes and looked at her suspiciously. "There's something you're not telling me, isn't there? What is it? I promise I'll keep it a secret."

"Okay, I can't keep this bottled up. Me and Kai got talking last night and we've decided that next summer, we're going to have our wedding. We've even found the place we'll have the ceremony. We have it _all_ planned out."

He could feel her happiness without even looking at her. It was as if she was radiating it all around the staff room. "That's great!" He meant that too. It was about time Kai stepped up to his duties as future husband. He knew that once Kai got over whatever it was he had reserves about they'd have a happy future together. "Unexpected, but great. How did it happen?"

"Well, I took him to the place we got engaged and I said that's where I wanted us to get married," her eyes glazed over as if she was seeing the whole scene again in her mind. "Then he started talking about other things in the ceremony and so did I. Then I asked when it was going to happen and he said next summer so the flowers are blooming because that's what I'd want. And he was right. It'll be perfect."

"I'm really glad you guys have worked things out. Between you and me, he's been an asshole as of late. I think he's made it up now, right enough." He drained the last dregs of his coffee and placed it in the sink where he would wash it later. "I'd better get ready to meet Double Ming before the rest of her face melts off. Me and  
Tala are supposed to be doing a house call or something."

"Sounds like fun."

Ray didn't bother to dignify that with a reply and left Hilary to resume her humming. He had barely just stepped out of the staff room when the bell at the entrance rang and he heard the sound of heels against the tiles at the reception. He groaned loudly. It was only nine o'clock and he was hoping to get some time to himself in his office before having to fake pleasantries to the super bitch. Maybe he could wait in his office until called out. That sounded like a good plan to him, but as he headed it for it Tala grabbed his shoulders.

"Sorry, but Kai said he wants us there while he briefs Emperor Ming about what Kenny's found." Ray groaned again. "I know exactly how you're feeling. I'm planning on getting to her house and then getting back out again. It's pointless anyway. It'll happen again. She's not exactly well loved or even liked."

"You'll find that with Kai, money talks." Tala sensed bitterness to Ray's voice but left it alone. They had enough on their hands with Ming Ming anyway.

They entered Kai's office together and saw that their client was already making herself comfortable as she leafed through the print outs Kenny must have given her. Kenny stood silently in the background, watching her in awe and adoration. Tala felt like rolling his eyes when he noticed that for once in his life, Kenny didn't have any glasses on. He looked completely different. Almost…hot. Not that he wasn't, it was just as a guy, he never really looked past the glasses. When he spied how his hair had been styled he knew Garnet had something to do with Kenny's image revamp.

"Glad you could join us," Kai said and it looked like he was telling the truth. "There's only around four or so spells Kenny could find that involves magic cast on an item to affect some one's looks. They do have three things in common though. It has to belong to the person the spell's directed at, it has to be something that the owner cherishes and it has to be able to show the victim's reflection."

"So, we're talking a mirror," said Tala.

"Not necessarily," Kenny intervened. Tala thought it sounded as if his voice had gotten deeper. "It could be something as simple as a spoon, or even a piece of jewellery."

Ray frowned. "If there are all those possibilities, how do we find out what it is? And then how do we stop it?"

"You should be able to feel it yourselves." Kenny took a sheet of paper from Ming Ming and when their hands brushed he blushed furiously. Tala prayed his trouser snake didn't pop out and humiliate him. "Uh…yeah. It says that when some one other than the victim looks, they should only be able to see the victim themselves, before the spell happened. Once you know what it is, destroy it."

"So basically we're talking about a spell which steals your reflection?" Tala shrugged. "That doesn't seem too challenging."

"No, it's not the _spell_ that's challenging." Kai glanced meaningfully in Ming Ming's direction but she was too busy fixing the scarf around her face to notice. "Well, that's everything so off you go and good luck."

Ming Ming smiled at Ray and Tala brightly as they accompanied her to her car but they didn't return the favour. They wanted to get this over with as soon as possible so they could get back to making fun of her. When they reached her car (a pink Beetle with flowers on the bonnet and boot) they wished they could just kill themselves right then and there. Both of them got into the back rather than having to sit beside her while she jabbered on about how great she was or something like that. Garnet and Mariah had fully warned them what to expect.

"Does Kai only employ good looking guys or something?" Ming Ming asked as she started the car and started to reverse out of her space, narrowly missing the bumper of Garnet's pink Cadillac. Ray and Tala looked at each other. "I mean, I'm all for cute guys at work. If it were up to me, I wouldn't have _any_ ugly people working in public. It's just rude!"

"Ain't she looked in the mirror lately?" Tala muttered to Ray.

"You'll love my house," Ming Ming continued. "Everyone does. I'm sure it's a lot nicer than any one you've ever lived in. Certainly it looks better than your current one. I mean, how can you stand living in the same building where you work?"

As she continued to jabber on, not even aware that they were no longer listening, Tala looked carefully at the car that had just taken up the spot where Ming Ming had been parked. The windows were blacked out so he couldn't get a proper look at the passenger, but he knew that it was being driven by a chauffer since the driver got out to open to door for his boss. He craned his neck trying to get a proper view of who it was but only got a brief glimpse of shoulder length grey hair and an expensive looking suit. He'd looked familiar but Tala just couldn't picture him fully. It must have been years or so since he'd last encountered whoever it was because his memory was normally excellent towards the point of being photographic.

"What's up?" Ray asked quietly.

"Nothing…"Tala murmured, not liking this feeling that was crawling up his spine. "I just thought I saw some one I knew." He looked around again and saw the man enter the Paranormal Psychiatrists building. It appeared he would find out who this mysterious man was when they got back. That was depending, of course, if they weren't' charged with first degree murder before then.

The rest of the drive to Ming Ming's mansion was fairly uneventful. She felt it her job to point out the houses were several celebrities stayed and Tala couldn't even muster the energy to inform her that he just didn't care. He wanted to get in, found whatever was causing Ming Ming's lapse in facial beauty and destroy it before the guy left.

"We're here!" Ming Ming sang as she drove into her driveway and parked just where the her front stairs were. "Awesome, isn't it?"

The two men couldn't quite say they agreed. It was big. That they would give her but the entire exterior was a hot pink colour. They needed sunglass just to look at it. This kind of house could really only belong to some one who truly believed they were high above everyone else since the garish colour showed she was extraordinary in one sense or another. Both of them dreaded to see the interior but as they entered they were presently surprised. The inside was mainly made up of mono colours that looked modern but classy. The only thing that would give away that it was Ming Ming's house was the many mirrors that lined its halls. It reminded Ray of the hall of mirrors in a carnival; it was almost spooky that way. You couldn't turn around without seeing yourself and it had a slightly disorientating feel.

"Where do you want to start?" Ming Ming asked. "As I'm sure you gathered, there's a lot of potential here."

"Well it's none of these," Tala said as he caught another reflection of himself. "I can see myself."

"Wait a minute," Ray asked, thoughtfully. "This might be a whole lot easier than we think. Wouldn't Ming Ming still see her true reflection in the mirror?"

"You're right! Why didn't we think of that earlier?" Tala turned to face Ming Ming who was looked longingly at her reflection and for a second he felt a pang of pity for her. What must it be like to lose the only talent you truly have? "Is there something you've looked in and saw what you really look like? Then we can destroy it and you'll be back to normal in time for your concert."

Ming Ming looked hesitant and bit her every decaying lips. "Well…yeah. But I don't want to look at it." He looked at her questioningly and she couldn't meet his eyes. "I don't think you should look at it or destroy it. I just…don't think it's a good idea."

"Not a good idea?" Ray stared at her, his mouth agape. "Of course it is! You'll be normal again, able to leave the house without having to worry about people finding out. Don't you want that?"

"Sure," she said unconvincingly. "Fine. I'll show you it." She led them up a long flight of stairs to the second floor and they passed many doors until they reached one at the end of the long hallway. She took a key out of her jeans pocket and unlocked the door and they all entered the empty room; empty that was apart from a veiled thing in the middle of the uncarpeted floor. As if she was resigning herself to something, Ming Ming reluctantly pulled the dusty sheet off and revealed an old looking mirror. "This is it. Creepy, isn't it?"

Ray and Tala both nodded their heads in agreement. All they could see in the mirror was the Ming Ming that was so often on television with her face beautiful and her hair perfect. It was the girl who should be standing beside them and she looked so life like it almost seemed as if she really was.

"Let's not waste any more time," Ray said. He looked at Tala for confirmation and he gave his partner a brief nod. Ray then raised his foot and smashed it down on the glass, shattering it into a thousand pieces. Ray suddenly felt a sharp pain all over his body and before he could react, he felt himself go cold and lost consciousness.

Ming Ming screamed as his body slumped to the floor and Tala began shouting his name as he propped the body up, checking for breathing and a pulse. His stomach seemed to flip over when he found both, indicating that Ray wasn't dead but it didn't make sense to him. His eyes were still open. His amber eyes. They stared straight through him as if fixed on something ahead. Why then did it appear that he was unconscious?

"Look!" Ming Ming said, not even caring that she'd gotten her beauty back, and pointed at the glass which Ray had just shattered. Tala did as she commanded and felt his heart stop. The pieces began to rise from the floor and fixed onto the mirror again as if it hadn't been broken in the first place. The only difference was that in place of Ming Ming's reflection was now Ray's. He didn't move or make a sound but Tala knew that that's where he was now, trapped in his own reflection. "What are we going to do?"

"Back to head quarters," Tala said numbly and he scooped Ray's body into his arms. Mariah's heart was going to break when she saw him. "Take the mirror with us."

Under normal circumstances she would have protested but Ming Ming felt more than responsible for this. After all, that was what she'd been told to do, wasn't it? Of course she had got the wrong person but surely he would still be pleased with her enough to stop jeopardising her career. She had tried her best to get the right person here but it seemed other things were more important than her so at least she had gotten someone. But then, as she looked at Tala's face she wasn't sure that it was worth it. She hadn't been sure it was worth it before then but in the end she had given in. Didn't she deserve to live as much as the next person? When she looked at her now perfect image as they passed through her mirrored corridors she wasn't sure she did.

* * *

After sending Tala, Ray and Ming Ming away, Kai felt an enormous surge of relief. For some reason, Ming Ming had been desperate for him to be the one to accompany her to her house despite him telling her he was far too busy and it wasn't a lie. He had the bills that he hadn't filled in yesterday to do and he didn't want anyone else seeing how much he owed other companies for the little luxuries his friends/employees couldn't live without. If they went on any longer without clients he would have to start cutting down on some things, perhaps cable in every room would be the start. He wasn't sure. He hoped it wouldn't come to that. He didn't want everyone to know that he was going to be close to bankruptcy soon.

There was a light knock at the door and a sullen faced Tyson entered with an even more sullen faced Garnet. "You have a visitor," he said, spitting the last word out as if it were venom. "If you want us to show him the door we'll be more than happy to," he added with a tint of hope.

"Now, now," said a familiar voice in his normal silky way, "where are your manners? One might question your lower class upbringing." Kai's eyes widened in surprise as his grandfather walked into his office and old feelings of hate began to rise as if it was only yesterday he'd walked out and not all those years ago.

"Like Tyson said," Garnet smiled through gritted teeth. "Just give us the word and he's outta here."

Voltaire Hiwatari leered at his grandson who had gotten to his feet and he noticed he'd backed away slightly. That felt good. Kai wasn't even aware of the control that he still had over him. He walked forward and took the seat in front of Kai's desk, indicating for his grandson to sit down which he did with some reluctance.

"Leave us," he said to the two people he'd had the misfortune to encounter at the reception. After a wary nod from Kai they did so, muttering to each other loudly as they went. "Kai. It's been quite some time," he said evenly.

"It has. Why are you here?" Kai hated the way he seemed to have lost control of his voice which seemed to be rising and falling with his nerves. He had been away from this man so long and still he could feared him. Not so much what he would do, but more what he would say and the ghosts of the past he could summon to test Kai's guilt. It was this power of him that made Kai loath him more than any human being he'd ever met.

"I see the years living with these people hasn't improved your manners any," Voltaire said in a patronising tone. "I heard you're getting married. Lexine told me."

"Why were you talking to my sister?"

"Take the suspicion out of your voice, Kai. I was merely trying to patch things up with my only living relatives. I'm an old man, you know. I've not got long left and I would rather not die without having made amends for my past crimes against you."

"Bullshit!" Kai spat.

Voltaire chuckled at the indignant rage on Kai's face which caused him to lose his control. He loved to toy with him to see the effects he still had. "So you saw through me. But in all honesty, I do still keep contact with Lexine. She seems to be the only grandchild out of the two of you who hasn't been a complete disappointment, though I can tell she loves me as much as you do."

"So you're using her to keep tabs on me. Is that it?"

He chuckled again. "What a way your mind works. Needless to say it doesn't really provide me with very much information. I can see the two of you aren't exactly close either. But enough about the past. Let's talk about the future. Who is the bride to be?"

Kai looked at him and tried to read what was going through his mind but found he couldn't. His face was blank enough so he couldn't. Well, he could play that game too. They wouldn't be swapping pleasantries for long. "Her name's Hilary. We met two years ago after I helped her with a problem."

"Ah…so you're still chasing ghosts, are you? Isn't very productive anymore though, is it?" Kai narrowed his eyes as he picked up what Voltaire's tone was indicating. His face remained innocent as if it had just been a little remark of which he knew nothing about. Kai began to wonder if had really been Lexine he'd gotten his information from.

"It's better than working for you," he retorted and saw, with pleasure, that Voltaire's hands bunched into fists.

"We'll see."

For several seconds they didn't say anything but just looked at each other, hate evident on both their faces. The silence was then broken by a loud scream followed by anguished cries. Kai didn't have time to acknowledge the smirk on his grandfather's face as he ran out of his office to see what the matter was. He gasped silently as he saw Mariah grasping Ray's apparently dead body as she continued to cry loudly, her whole body racking up and down with the sheer force.

Voltaire stopped behind him. "Well I can see you have your hands full at the moment so I'll take me leave now. Until we meet again Kai."

Kai didn't even notice his grandfather leave but had knelt down beside Ray as everyone gathered in the reception. "What happened?" He demanded first at Ming Ming who was now as beautiful as ever and then at Tala.

"He did just as you said," Tala replied thickly. "He smashed the mirror only as soon as he did it released Ming Ming and took him instead after it repaired itself."

"What do you mean 'took him'," Kai heard Kenny ask from somewhere behind him and felt afraid to hear the answer.

Without a word, Tala removed the sheet which covered the mirror and Mariah screamed as she saw Ray's reflection staring out at them without seeing.

* * *

Please review!

jellybean-kitty


	6. Curses

I've realised this story isn't going to be that long:S I think it'll probably be just over ten chapters. Anyway, hope you enjoy this one:P

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade

Curses

In a blink of an eye Mariah had rounded on Ming Ming, her tear streaked face distorted into rage. Her hands gripped the pop star's shoulders so tightly that she squealed as the nails dug into her skin. "What have you done to him?" Ming Ming opened and closed her mouth but no sound came out which seemed to be the wrong answer as Mariah began to shake her. "You bitch, what did you do to him?!"

Max pulled her gently away and she sobbed softly into his shirt. "We don't know that this is her fault, Mariah-"

"But we don't know that it isn't," Garnet cut in, hatefully. "I bet she'd do anything to get her precious looks back. Does it feel good, huh?" She added, poking her nail into Ming Ming's chest causing her to stumble backwards. "Are you happy now that you're as beautiful as ever and our friend's lying freaking half dead?!"

"It's not like that!" Ming Ming shouted back, furiously and beginning to cry herself. She hadn't prepared herself from an onslaught from the people she was paying – and very well – to help her. "Do you think I _meant_ for this to happen? I mean I wanted to be normal again, sure. But I didn't want _this!_" She gestured at Ray's body and then his reflection.

Ming Ming and her two assailants stared at each other as if they were participating in a Mexican stand-off. All their chests were heaving upwards and their faces flushed with anger for the other side, happy to place the blame. Everyone else didn't know what to do or if they should blame their client too. Certainly it was the easiest option, to gang up and pick on the weakest person there.

"You know, it might not actually be her fault," Kenny said quietly and reasonably. "Look, for all we know the conjurer of this spell added an anti-jinx in case some one tried to break their handiwork and Ray was just unlucky enough to be landed with it. I mean, it's obviously magic, right? In which case we just break the spell." Kenny blushed as Ming Ming looked at him gratefully and he felt his heart skip a beat. "Or there might just be something wrong with the mirror and we're looking at the wrong angle. Of course, I'm just speculating."

"In ancient times, mirrors were supposed to be cursed." Everyone looked to Kai as he expanded on this statement. "There are legends which say that every time you look into a mirror a part of your soul disappears into the reflection."

"My mom used to say that if I kept looked in the mirror I would become ugly," Hilary murmured.

"Yeah, that's a part of it. You see, when you start to lose your soul you begin to deteriorate because you can't exist without your soul. Think about bodies. When you die, your soul becomes detached from your body and then your body rots. I think that was what was happening to Ming Ming. She was decaying because her soul was disappearing from her body."

Hilary frowned. "But what about me? My soul was separated from my body and I didn't decay."

"If you remember, it wasn't really your soul that was separated but more your spirit. You weren't a ghost but an entity. That's why your consciousness kept returning because it never truly left. For Ray that's totally different. His actual soul had been stolen and the worst thing is since Ray no longer has any of his soul..."

Mariah finished the sentence for him, "...his body is going to deteriorate. Can't we just smash the mirror?"

"We tried that," Tala said. "As you can see the outcome wasn't too great."

"Then we take it in turns! You can't just let Ray die!"

"He's not going to die," Kai told her soothingly. "We've worked out harder problems. It's just a matter of finding the solution. The only way to release Ray is to break the mirror. We found that out yesterday. But how do we break the mirror without the spell turning on some one else?"

Ming Ming bit her lip. There was nothing she wanted more than to help out now that she knew she wasn't trusted. If there was a way to make her look innocent it was to try and give them advice. However, doing that might put her in deep trouble with _him. _Her heart and her head were now in a battle with each other. She looked at Mariah's distraught face as she softly caressed Ray's. Perhaps if she gave a little clue. Just a teensy weensy itty bitty one.

"You know," She said and was instantly met with a room full of mistrusting eyes. "Umm...there's an old proverb that said the eyes are the window to the soul."

Hilary rolled her eyes. "Thanks. That's a huge help. Any other proverbs you wanna share? The journey of one thousand miles begins with a single step? Or perhaps unhelpful pop star meets grisly end by throttling. No wait. That's tomorrow's newspaper headline."

Ming Ming looked at the only person in the room who didn't look like he wanted to kill her and found that he was looking thoughtfully at her. She pleaded to him with her eyes that maybe he could interpret what she was saying. _Come on, Kenny_ she thought to herself. Wasn't he supposed to be the brains of this operation? He had solved the first part of the puzzle which had released her from her original charm but now he had to help out Ray. After which, she was going to have to seriously consider what to do next. Perhaps he could let her off the hook? Maybe he'd just move onto some one else to get help. To Ming Ming she didn't really understand why he was so hell bent on getting revenge but she wasn't an idiot. She knew he would stop at nothing until he got it. He was insane. Perfectly insane. She's been aware of that the moment he began to threaten her. He knew they right way to twist her arm so she would participate in his mind games and like a sheep she had followed his lead for her own selfish purposes. Now that she was so involved, was there any way for her to get out? Was there any way for redemption?

"Actually," Kenny said and Ming Ming could have kissed him, "I think she might have a point. If you didn't look in the mirror, you couldn't lose your soul, right?" Kai nodded doubtfully. "Well then, maybe if you don't look at it when you smash it, it'll be fine."

"That would solve the immediate problem, yes," Kai replied. "But the next person who looks at it will suffer the same fate as Ray."

"So?" Tyson interjected. "Can't we just cross that bridge when we come to it?"

"Or we could paint it black," Garnet suggested. "I mean, it must repair itself otherwise we wouldn't have it standing here in all its reflective glory? It wouldn't be too hard to do, either and when its done it'll never reflect again. It'll be defunct or whatever. We'll have Ray back _and_ the spell with be useless. It's a win win situation! Come on Tala. We'll check the store cupboard. Even if there's not black paint there will be some sort because we needed it when we were redecorating a while back, remember? The rest of you move the mirror into some one's office and if we could get blindfolds that would be swell too. Oh and maybe we should move Ray's body to some where a little more comfortable than the reception floor."

They were about to set off but a single word from their leader caused them to stop and stare in disbelief. "No."

Mariah took a few hesitant steps towards him. "What? You can't be serious, right? This will be our problems over if we can pull this off."

"What about _her_?" Kai asked, pointing at Ming Ming who wished the ground would swallow her up so she wouldn't have to look at all the hate-filled faces. "What will happen to her if we do this? Who ever jinxed this mirror wants her to die. Essentially that's what would have happened if Ray hadn't intervened. Who's to say that the next spell won't kill her completely? Do none of you care about her at all?"

Looking at their client darkly, Mariah said, "I care about Ray more." Several people nodded in agreement.

"Well we have to think of the greater good, here. She's paying us good money for protection-"

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Kai," Hilary shouted. "Is that all you care about? Money? And I'm sure you're aware of this but we're freaking psychiatrists, not bodyguards. Anyway, if she wasn't such a bitch to everyone she meets she wouldn't have this problem in the first place. It's completely out of our hands."

"If you're not with us you're against us," Tala said quietly, looking at Kai straight on in defiance and not lowering his intense gaze for a second.

Kai looked around him at his mutinous employees who call themselves his friends. He could pick out exactly who would disobey his orders, who agreed with him and who was just caught in the middle. So far, he picked out that Garnet, Tala, Hilary and Mariah were going to Garnet's plan no matter what he said. Kenny was obviously all for trying to protect Ming Ming first and Kai had a feeling it wasn't just because he idolised her. Max and Tyson looked as if they were still deciding but he couldn't imagine them siding with the side who apparently seemed as if they didn't care about their best friend. Why didn't they understand that something about this just didn't feel right? His intuition had never steered him wrong before. For him all this just seemed to easy. He felt that they should maybe wait a bit and think it out rationally rather than rush into something just because it seemed like the ideal solution. The people who agreed with him seemed to be a minority, however. The other complication would be where would they go from there? Could they live under one roof knowing that their sides are now separated? Kai wasn't so sure they could. If that was the case, it was about to get a whole lot quiet at work.

He decided to try one more time for them to come to their senses. "Look, I just think we should wait a little bit longer. Maybe sit down and discuss it like adults. I...Something just doesn't feel right."

"Ohhhh," Garnet said, nodding emphatically and her eye were almost kind. Almost. "I get it. You want us to leave Ray the way he is because your spidey sense is tingling. Is that it?" That got a few laughs and Kai could feel his anger burning up inside of him. "After all, we know that Kai's a renowned psychic, isn't he?"

"You don't get it!"

"No, _you _don't get it, Kai." Mariah gestured to the small gathering around her. "We're going to release Ray and fix that mirror so it doesn't steal anyone's soul ever again. If you want to help then do so. If not, get the hell out of our way."

Kai glared at the mutinous many as they walked past him to carry out their plan. He wasn't too surprised to find that the only people remaining in the reception area were him, Ming Ming, Kenny and Max. "I didn't expect you to stay with us," he said to the blonde.

"Yeah well I can see your way of thinking. Besides, in all the years you've never steered us wrong. But I can't believe Hilary went with them. And Tala, for that matter. Both of them are normally pretty sensible."

Sighing, Kai shook his head. "Let's face it. Tala would do anything for Garnet. I just never thought he'd sell me out. And Hilary...I think she just wants Ray back, pretty much like Mariah. All of them have one thing in common though. They don't trust Ming Ming."

"And don't get us wrong," Kenny added, "we don't trust you either. I've got a feeling you know more about what's going on than what you're telling and maybe you're too scared to let us know but don't be lulled into a false sense of security. Something fishy is going on and I think you're at the heart of it."

"Let's go into my office and talk," Kai suggested.

* * *

Alone, Hilary sat in Ray's room holding her friend's almost lifeless hand and contemplated everything that had happened down stairs. They were now divided. She knew that perfectly well. Kai wasn't going to forget anytime soon how they'd went against his orders, even if everything did turn out alright. She deep down that he had just wanted to be cautious and to an extent everyone probably knew this too but action had to be taken. They had no idea how long Ray could survive without his soul and if they had indeed waited like Kai had suggested i was possible they could have waited too long. That was a risk she just wasn't willing to take. So what if that mean Ming Ming got hurt in the process. It would serve her right, wouldn't it? Despite furiously wanting to believe this she just couldn't. Her compassion wouldn't allow it. Ming Ming deserved to live just as much as the next person. After all, she wasn't truly a horrible person, she believed. It was just unfortunate that she was so exalted by her fans that she felt she truly was above all others and that wasn't really her fault. Not when she'd spent all her life being told that she was. It was like a religion, almost. When so many people tell you one thing its hard to shut that out. 

That was sort of reflected on the situation at work. If you're told time and time again that there's no such thing as ghosts, don't you believe it? Could that then cuase you to block them out when you do see them? For all you know, you're walking amongst them right now, or perhaps there is one watching you but because you believe they don't exist you can't see them. The human mind is an incredibly powerful thing, Hilary knew. It could choose to shut things out, not see things or see things that aren't there if it believed something strong enough.

As she heard the sound of smashed glass, she squeezed Ray's hand a little tighter. Any moment now he was going to wake up. _That _she believed. With her mind, she willed for his eyes to open and his skin to flush with colour again. She noticed that already his cheeks had become sunken and knew they first stages had begun. That was alright though, perfectly fine. Any second he was going to sit up and he would be alright again.

Like he had only been awaiting her cue, Ray's eyes fluttered open and his pupils dilated when he saw that it was Hilary sitting over him and not Ming Ming and Tala as he would have expected since they were the last thing he remembered.

"What happened?" He asked, looking around him. "Why am I in my room?"

"The mirror stole your soul and we've just got it back. Don't worry, you've not even been gone a full day." She hugged him tightly. "We were pretty worried."

"The last thing I remember was that I was smashing Ming Ming's mirror."

"Yeah. When you did it took your soul from your eyes. We know better now. Some of us are downstairs blindfolded so that they can't see the glass. It's pretty clever, actually. All Garnet's idea. When it repairs itself they're going to paint over the glass so that it can't reflect anything anymore."

"Garnet?" Ray asked. "Why not Kai?"

Hilary gnawed on hr bottom lip. Ray would probably be pretty mad at Kai when he found out what he'd been saying. After all, it had been his life that had been on the line. "Well, Kai wanted to wait a little bit longer and think things through a little more. He said it didn't feel right and that it was too easy."

Ray nodded in agreement. "He was right. If we'd maybe researched the thing more in the first place I might never have gotten into this mess. I wouldn't be surprised if he feels slightly responsible. After all, Ming Ming _had _been trying to get him to go with her." Hilary looked both intrigued and alarmed but Ray winked and tapped the side of his nose secretively. "I know more than you think. It probably should have been him that lost his soul instead of me."

"He didn't mention that..."

"No I don't imagine he would have. Knowing him, he's going to be pretty suspicious and to let on might not be such a good idea. He'll be thinking Ming Ming's not as innocent as she seems-"

"And wants to keep an eye on her to get to the bottom of it," Hilary finished feeling like an idiot. "Man, have I been barking up the wrong tree. Of course he would have had his reasons but most people think he's the bad guy in all this."

Garnet's voice echoed up to the room. "Mission complete. The mirror is now fully sealed. Let us know when Ray wakes up."

The two friends looked at each other and laughed despite the present situation. "Already happened," Ray called down to them and then laughed even harder.

* * *

"Sounds like it was a success," Max muttered needlessly and Kai felt his heart drop. Maybe he had been wrong after all. He just didn't trust Ming Ming and it had been her who'd suggested – sort of – the key to getting past the reflection issue. Maybe he was looking into this too much. Maybe he wasn't. Now, since it appeared he'd been wrong, he was going to have to try and explain why he'd been so reluctance. Would they even believe him now or would they just get angrier? Either way, he intended to get to the bottom of what was going on the the prime suspect happened to be sitting right in front of him. This was an opportunity he wasn't going to pass up.

"Yeah, it does. We'll need to thank you Ming Ming for your input. Kenny might never have made that link if it hadn't been for you. You deserve some credit." As he had expected, her eyes widened in fear. She hadn't wanted anyone to notice that she'd given them a little nudge in the right direction. That was a step forward. Now, he had to find out what it was she was afraid of, among other things. "Now, I can't help but wonder how it is you knew that. Or why you let on. Was it because you got the wrong person? Is that it? Was that why you were so desperate for me to go with you to destroy the mirror, because it was _my _soul you wanted?"

She was no shaking visibly while Max and Kenny looked at Kai in shock. He pretended not to notice. His only attention was devoted to Ming Ming now. "You don't understand!"

"Explain and maybe I will."

"If I hadn't done it I would have died. He told me so. He said it was my only chance."

Kai stood up to intimidate her and he knew it was working. She was now more scared of the man in front of her than the man of who she spoke. "Who's 'he'?"

"I don't know," Ming Ming said through tears. Kai scoffed. "It's the truth, I don't. He's never revealed himself to me. The only clue he ever gave was yat eoouugh..." Her beautiful eyes widened in fear and she clutched at her throat.

Getting to his feet, Kai had moved round his desk in a flash and was kneeling in front of her. "What is it? What's wrong?" Sadly, Ming Ming opened her mouth and Kai saw that she had lost the movement of her tongue. He'd seen this before. Not first hand, but an acquaintance who owned a voodoo shop had shown him pictures and it was impossible to mistake.

Max and Kenny moved round to either of his shoulders. "What's up with her," they asked simultaneously.

"It's a voodoo silencing curse. Whoever's behind this does not want our client talking."

* * *

Please review!

jellybean-kitty


	7. Divided

Argh! I'm so frustrated with this! I don't know where I'm going with it! I mean, I know here my end points are but getting there's turning out to be so hard:( I want to give up... If there's anyway to enjoy this chapter, please do.

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade

Divided

They didn't know what to do with Ming Ming and so had left her to rest in their living room upstairs. They had all gathered in the staff room and tensions were rising higher than ever as the two groups sat at either side of the room with only Hilary and Ray in the middle, an unintentional way of saying that they weren't going to pick sides. They had sat in silence for almost half an hour, waiting for the first to speak. Kai wasn't willing to take that step because he could see that as soon as he opened his mouth they would be at his throat. Even if it meant they would sit here all night, he was not going to be the one to speak first.

Finally, Garnet rolled her eyes and said in a triumphant voice, "You were wrong.

"No, I wasn't," Kai quickly returned.

She narrowed her eyes and gestured at Ray. "Ain't he sitting here right now, fully conscious? What does that tell you?"

"It tells me that you were right, not that I was wrong." Garnet huffed impatiently and folded her arms. "That real issue here is that I gave you an order and you disobeyed me. Didn't it occur to you that I did so for a reason? You all said you don't trust Ming Ming. Make the fucking connection."

The opposition gave each other quick glances to see if anyone was catching on to what he was saying but by the looks of it none of them was having any inspiration. Ray saved them the trouble and answered Kai's question as a neutral. "Ming Ming had practically got down on her knees to beg Kai to go with her to the house call. After what happened to me, doesn't that strike you as strange that she should be so desperate for _Kai?_"

"And she also told you how to end it. Albeit it was pretty cryptic but she knew one of us would understand it," Kenny hastened to add.

Mariah glared at Kenny. "You would say that, wouldn't you? You'd want to try and stick up for your little crush."

"That's enough," Kai said darkly. "What we're trying to get through to you is that Ming Ming knew what was going on and if she had wanted to she could have broke the spell on her own. But she didn't. She wanted me instead. Say something had happened to her when you showed me your disregard. How would we know who's behind it all? They would try to get at us again, wouldn't they. Then what?"

He looked at Tala and Garnet and could see that they weren't completely convinced. Did they think he was lying? Tyson wasn't looking sorry either. Not really. Kai wanted to run his hands through his hair in his usual act of frustration but he didn't want them to know they were getting to him. If he gave up his position of calm and almost non-nonchalance it would allow them to think they had one up on him, and he wasn't going to allow that. When he thought about it that way, the whole thing seemed quite ridiculous. These people were supposed to be his closest companions and now they were almost divided in two. It wasn't really surprising, though. Not expected by any means, but not surprising either. Everything else seemed to be falling apart so why shouldn't his friendships too?

"Look," He continued. "Let's just forget the whole thing happened – for now. I need to know that you're all with me one hundred per cent while we investigate this because if we have another disaster like Ray's and you choose to foolishly do your own thing again it could be fatal."

"Who's paying for it?" Garnet asked, suddenly. Tala, Mariah and Tyson all smirked as if it was the most witty thing they'd ever heard. Kai knew exactly what she meant by the question but raised his eyebrows in ignorance anyway. "I mean, that's what you're always bitching about, isn't it? Money. I mean if all of us are helping your sorry ass out how can we help any of the customers we're not getting? In other words, where's your funding coming from, if you're so low on finances that you can't even afford your own wedding?"

"Keep me and Hilary's situation out of this!" He snapped, annoyed that his temper was flaring to easily.

"Hit a nerve, did we?" Mariah simpered innocently. "But she has a point. Is it because its your own welfare that you've suddenly discovered another bankload or just coincidence. Or perhaps the money issue is just an excuse so you don't have to get married after all." At this she gave Hilary a meaningful look but Hilary looked as if she was more angry at Mariah for suggesting such a thing than at Kai in case it were true. Most likely she knew it wasn't.

In his head Kai counted to ten. By the time he did it he felt some of his anger ebb away, but not enough so that he could approach the question calmly. The way they were sitting so smug was irritating more than any of their words, or even the knowledge that they were right. A nerve had been hit and severely severed. It was just like Garnet to try and get as many people on her side as possible. What goos was it going to do? Surely they were going to work together anyway?

"Are you with me or not?"

"If we're not," Tala asked Kai, almost drawling, "what happens?"

Kai met his eyes and found it was easy. "You get the hell out."

All eyes looked at their leader in surprised shock. They hadn't expected him to make such a drastic measure for their lack of loyalty. To his relief, he saw they looked hesitant. He didn't want to throw them out. It was really a last resort, but he wasn't going to beg for their help. It was more likely they'd be safer without him around anyway. But he wouldn't be. Without him, he was pretty sure his friend's lives would crumble considering they had no real qualifications and their job experience wasn't exactly inspirational for getting employed in another firm. A mental institution, sure. Also their people skills were limited to being able to work with the dead. Again, not a clincher for a job application.

However, it seemed as if Garnet didn't care about this. After getting over th initial shock, she merely shrugged. "Fine. I'll pack."

"And I'll be right behind you," Tala assured her.

Kai tried to look as if he didn't care as his they filed out, Mariah behind them and then Tyson. When Ray stood up to follow, Kai couldn't help but blurt out loud, "Not you too, Ray?"

The Chinese man cringed noticeably, as if he expected to be able to creep out without being seen. He looked at Kai regretfully and then out towards Mariah. "She's my girlfriend, man. I've got to stand by her. You'd do the same and don't even say you wouldn't."

Without waiting for Kai to reply, he walked out, leaving him alone with Kenny, Max and Hilary. Kai couldn't bear to look at anyone; they were staring at him enough so he didn't feel a need to anyway. He did feel a need to get away. He needed time to himself. Time where he didn't have people around him to think about, where he didn't even have to think at all, if was possible. He mumbled an excuse and left them without some one to look at except the vacant space where he had once been, though he was probably more vacant still.

In his office, he sat down behind his desk, kicking the chair in front of it out of the way for good measure. He had no idea how this had happened. Well, he did, but that didn't mean he was too happy about it. After all, three of the four people who'd walked out on him had been his closest friends since they were all children. Through thick and thin they'd been together, helping each other out from the ups and downs of adolescence. When his parents had died it had been Garnet, Tala and Mariah who'd been there for him when he needed comfort most, though he had never told them that. When he'd moved out of his grandfathers to build a new life it had been them who'd supported him throughout and they had been his first employees when he'd started doing the only talent he could think of that hadn't gone to waste. It also helped that they happened to share the same gift, as odd as that was.

Sure, there had been times growing up when he'd just wanted them to leave him alone. That had been when things had gone especially bad for him and it had also been when he'd needed friendship the most. It was funny. The more you need some one, the more you try to push them away or the more you take them for granted. Kai thought of an old saying his father used to say when Kai's attitude towards him (which to this day he knew had been unacceptable) had been particularly bad. He would look at Kai with a remorseful look in his eyes and tell him 'familiarity breeds contempt. You're the living proof.' Of course, Kai being a teenager had scoffed at his elders words, deliberately disrespectful for no good reason – although he would say it was after Matt's death this happened. His parents had never treated him wrongly. They'd only ever loved him and that was probably their biggest crime. They'd loved him too much. Despite the grief, despite the blame for his brother's death, Kai had always known they'd loved him. Maybe he'd wanted their hatred as a way to mourn what he felt was his fault. He hated how they forgave him even after all that he'd done. He'd hated them.

Funny how the tables turn? He felt like he knew what it was to be in their position. The people he cared most about had begun to walk out on him regardless how much he cared about them and regardless of how much he did for them; the risks he had taken in the past and the risks he'd be willing to take in the future.

On his desk, his eye spotted one of the few photographs on his desk. He had one of he and Hilary on a ski trip they had taken in the winter, there was one of the whole gang taken when they'd got they moved into the renovated offices (renovated because they had been blown up by Craig East) and the last was perhaps the only happy memory he had as a young teenager. He remembered it well. He had been fourteen and he had been going out with Garnet at the time. It was the summer holidays and the sun had been scorching hot, even for Los Angeles so they had gone to the local park just to hang out and be around each other before the new school term started. In the picture, he was standing next to Mariah, Tala and Garnet and they were laughing the way children laughed. Without meaning to, he picked it up and looked at it closely. When he did, he saw that over the years they'd drifted apart, as you're apt to do as you get older. They had once been as close as they were in that picture where they could tell each other anything and it wasn't like that. It was his fault and he knew it. He'd stopped confiding in them things he had always confided. Everything with Hilary, for example. He'd not spoke to anyone about that. He'd kept it bottled up inside. He didn't know why he did it but it wasn't like he could go back and change the things he'd kept hidden.

Driven by a sudden surge of anger, he hurled the photograph at his door and relished the sound of the glass smashing. It hadn't vented much, but he felt slightly better.

Unsurprisingly, a knock on his door shortly followed. Kai vowed that next time he was trying to get rid of emotions he would do something a little more quiet, like listen to emo music loud enough to burst his eardrums, using headphones, of course.

Hilary didn't wait for his permission to enter and walked in. There was a loud crack as she stepped on the photoframe, apparently not expected s broken one to be lying on the floor. She picked it up, gave Kai a disapproving look and then approached him, setting the knocked over chair right as she did.

"I thought you should know they've left now. They're going to stay in a hotel for a few days until they decide what to do. They might go stay at some one's parents house for a few days too."

"And Ming Ming?"

Hilary took in a sharp intake of breath which told Kai that she didn't approve of the popstars stay. Well at least she wasn't taking anyone's room since the one she was resting in was now dormant. "When Ray was packing she didn't make any indication that she knew he was there. Either she's asleep or pretending be, not that it matters. She's out of our hands for the time being anyway."

"Do you think I was wrong?"

A small smile crept onto Hilary's face, as if she had been expecting that question and had already prepared her (honest) answer. "Well, I don't think you were right. Neither do I think you were wrong. I think you did what appeared necessary and that's okay. After all, its very likely that they would have gotten in our way anyway. I mean, some of those comments...They're not something friends should say about each other. Below the belt much?" She saw the look on his face and saw he was missing them already. That was understandable. They had once shared a bond between them that she had never understood. "They'll be back. Everyone's just hot headed right now." Her gesture towards the shattered picture made him smile. "Once you've all swallowed your pride and apologised everything will be back to normal. Well, as normal as things can be around here.

"Are you okay?" She asked, taking his hand in hers and looking deep into his eyes, into his soul it felt like, searching for an answer she would never find there. "A lot's going on right now. Do you want to talk?"

Kai sighed. "No. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know where to start looking, Hils. There's nothing we can find out from Ming Ming. Nothing at all. The thing is, I can't think on who would want to hurt me so badly. It must be for revenge or something. It would have to be, wouldn't it?" She nodded but didn't say anything. "There's East's relatives, though I doubt very much it would be them since I have Bryan and Ian keeping tabs on them." Hilary gave him a surprised look. "I didn't tell you in case you would get worried. Don't forget, there's still a drug ring going on which they're in the middle of. Obviously the police are going to be keeping an eye on them. I just have them updating me on some things, that's all."

"It would have been nice to know..."

He winced at her implementing tone. "There's been a lot of things I've been keeping from you guys, hasn't there? Well it's not as if its paid off. Talk about karma." Hilary didn't look amused at his half baked attempt at a joke. "I promise you that's going to change. From now on, if you want to know something I'll tell you. I've lost a large chunk of my friends tonight. I couldn't bear to lose you too."

Something in his eyes told Hilary that he was being truthful. Their was definitely earnest there. "Are you sure? There's a lot I want to know...but I guess there's too much for one night. Just one thing. Who was that guy who came in to see you? He looked kinda sinister."

Kai smiled again for the second time. It was funny how Hilary was able to lift him out of any bad mood. "Sinister is right. That was my grandfather. Voltaire."

She wrinkled her nose in an adorable way. "What was _he _doing here?"

"He found out about our engagement, he said. Wanted to know about you too. I told him your name was Hilary. That's about it." Something close to a frown appeared on Hilary's face but it went away as quickly as it came. Kai knew her well enough to know there was something on her mind. "What is it?"

"It's nothing," she said dismissively but Kai could tell she was lying.

"Tell me."

Hilary looked around her as if afraid some one might be listening in. "Well, its just...doesn't he hate you? I mean, this will sound silly but hear me out. You told me that he blamed you for your dad's death, right? He might- you know- wanna get revenge." She laughed shrilly. "Okay that sounds stupid."

"Not as stupid as you'd think..." Kai looked thoughtful. "Trouble is, I don't know anyway to find him. He lives in Russia now so he'll just be visiting. He could be anywhere. It's very possibly a false trail, but you never know." He smirked. "Either way, its a step in the right direction. Why didn't I think of that?"

She shrugged, but inside she was pleased. "I guess you're just no as amazing as I am."

"You're right. You _are _amazing. I love you."

Hilary felt her throat catch as she heard what he said. It had been so long since he'd said those words and actually mean them. She felt tears in her eyes and blinked them away, cursing herself for being so sentimental. "Kai..." she breathed softly, her eyes wide as she repeated his words in her head over and over again.

Red dimples rose on his cheeks, though they were hard to see. "Well I do." He raised his eyes to hers and was smiling with them. "I can always count on you to get me out of the messes I get myself into."

Giggling, she replied, "Likewise."

He didn't saw anything else. Only kissed her. That was all that needed to be done. No words would have mattered to them. Hilary savored the taste of Kai in her mouth, but it was different. This time she could taste bitterness in his mouth that was probably a result of Garnet and her followers leaving. She suddenly felt a wetness on her cheeks and there was an irregularity in the way Kai's back began to heave up and done that told her he wasn't laughing anymore. She looked up and saw that Kai – who was always so strong, always able to hold his feelings back – was crying.

"I'm losing everyone.," He whispered. "Everyone's leaving me. My parents, my brother and sister, my friends. Promise me you won't leave me too."

She pulled him into a tight hug, trying to get rid of the vision of his tear stained face. He grasped her, almost too tightly but she allowed it. If he needed to, tonight she would let him. She loved him, after all. At the end of the day that's what it came down to. She loved him and as long as he needed her she would be there for him.

"I promise..."

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Please review!

jellybean-kitty


	8. The Veil Is Lifted

Hey guys! I'm sorry this update has taken quite a while to get out! I'm so sorry for that. For one, I've been suffering from road blocks in this which have almost lifted. Then I had a seriously bad drinking experience on Saturday night which pure me out for a few days:P My parents had to sit with me all night so i didn't choke on my sick:S Don't every drink! Thirdly, which ties in with number two, the results of my exams where coming in. They came in today and I've been unbelievably nervous about them. Turns out I got straight A's Totally unexpected but there we go. For me, that means I can go to uni and pursue the medical career I really want:P

Err...well that's it for the excuses. Hope you enjoy this! And also thanks for your support in the last chapter. You've definitely inspired me to keep this fic going!

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade

The Veil Is Lifted

Walking around the offices the next morning, Kai felt empty. It was so strangely quiet. Unnaturally so. Gone where the sounds of Garnet and Tyson fighting, there were only four cups of coffee left in the sink and there had been no shouting at people for hogging the bath room. He still hadn't felt like talking to Max or Kenny and especially not Ming Ming. For one thing, he was afraid to say the wrong thing and have them walk out – bar Ming Ming – and another he didn't actually know what to say. The feeling seemed to be mutual as all that was passed between either or them was a grim smile and a curt nod.

On his way to his office he passed the reception desk where Hilary had placed herself to cover for Garnet and Tyson. She didn't notice him going by and he didn't bother her either. After last night, when he'd broken down, he felt a little embarrassed. He knew it was pretty immature to avoid her like that but he couldn't help it. Any man would feel the same. It wouldn't do to have him appearing weak, not when they needed a strong leader to guide them through whatever they were about to come up against, especially now they were a substantial number of men down. He wasn't going to kid himself. With only four people, they were at a serious disadvantage. It wasn't even as if they would help from Ming Ming since she's lost control of her voice and spent all day shut up in Ray's old room, avoiding everyone. Kai had no doubts she felt terrible about everything that had happened between the former friends and even less that if she could help at all she wouldn't risk doing herself any further damage.

In his office, he noticed the shards of glass from the old photoframe had been cleaned up. Hilary had probably did it when he was still in bed. Had she been unable to sleep? If so he hadn't noticed. Maybe it wasn't only him that was concerned for everyone's welfare. Not even his own, for the friends who'd stayed with him but for the friends who'd left. It was still possible that they would be targeted in a bid to get at him. At least he would have a first hand idea of what was going on and who was behind the plots against him. Garnet and co. didn't. They didn't have a clue. Kai imagined that would put them in more danger than they ever would be with him. How can you fight a demon you don't know exists?

Fully expecting his schedule to be empty, Kai looked down at the timetable Hilary had left on his desk and did a double take. To get a closer look he picked it up and held it right in front of his face. There was no denying it. At ten o'clock a Mrs Kathleen Kennedy was coming in with her aunt Margarete. He almost felt like smiling. Clients these days were becoming few and far between but today he had one. Even if it was the only one he got all week that didn't matter. To him, it signified things were looking up. First they got a customer, next they solved the mystery and then their former colleagues would come back with their tails between their legs begging for forgiveness.

He didn't have long before Mrs. Kennedy would be coming in so he used the precious few minutes to square up his office so it was suitable to psychoanalyze a ghost. He even cracked the window open to let some of the fresh air inside both the room and inside his mind, it seemed. Even the sun was shining outside, making the sky smile at everyone. This time he did smile. It was obvious things were going his way.

After a quick glance around the room to check everything was perfect, he sat behind his desk and waited for his first client of what seemed like the millennium to come. At ten fifteen she finally did, looking awkward as Hilary directed her to Kai's office and closed the door with a wink in Kai's direction. He smirked slightly in response.

Kathleen Kennedy wasn't what Kai had expected. Then again, what exactly can you expect when all you've got is a name to go by? Still, he was expected some one quite glamorous looking. Perhaps it was the name 'Kennedy' that had done it. Whatever it was, Kathleen Kennedy turned out to be a frumpy thirty-something with bookish glasses and hair tied back into a tight bun. On her peaked nose she wore thick rimmed glasses and to Kai he imagined her to be some sort of librarian. Irritatingly enough, he felt his mind wander to her bank balance. Librarians weren't exactly up there with the rich and famous. Then again, neither was he when business was flowing.

Appearing beside Kathleen was exactly the kind of person he's expected the living Kennedy to be. The ghostly being sat crossed legged behind her looking like an older version of Marilyn Monroe. Her hair was permed blonde and she had lipstick the colour of heartache on. Her eyes were like sparkling sapphires and Kai thought she might have died with coloured contact lenses in. There was something about her eyes that looked unnatural. Then again, what is natural about a ghost? She was wearing a medium length skirt but a low cut top that plunged and was made of satin. Although she was probably in her forties, she looked remarkably younger. Kai made the assumption that she had died on a night out in the town, which wasn't unheard of and even less unusual.

Using his 'charming smile' (which he hadn't done so in some time) he offered them both his hand and they shook it as he introduced himself, Kathleen looking slightly horrified when it appeared he was shaking hands with no one. No matter how many times he saw that expression it never ceased to amuse him.

"So, Mrs Kennedy-"

"_Miss_," The elder woman said with a wink, "I died a divorcee."

Kai wasn't surprised. "How did you die?"

Margarete pretended to huff. "Straight to the point, aren't you? I was coming from from a nightclub with a gentleman when he shot me. Just like that!" She turned her head to show Kai the hole in her head which still had pus and blood surrounding the wound and laughed deviously. "Disgusting, isn't it? I saw it when my body was put in the coffin and nearly gagged." She laughed again. "And I used to be the socialite of my scene."

Feeling strangely sympathetic, Kai softened his voice. "Do you know who killed you?"

"Sure do! That bastard got locked up for life. I did a little terrorising in his jail cell last night, actually." Her eyes shone with merriment. "I never thought I'd haunt if I turned out to be a ghost but you only die once, right?"

"Uh...sure." Kai cleared his throat and bit the nib of his pen thoughtfully. "The reason you're still stuck on this terrain is because you have unfinished business. That what ghosts are: remnants of people with an incomplete past. Once we've found out what makes it incomplete you can move on to you next life."

Kathleen frowned. "Is my aunt really here right now?" Distractedly, Kai nodded. Who else did she think he was talking to? "May I ask how you'll prove that you've helped her when I can't even see that she's gone?"

Folding his hands patiently, Kai looked towards Margarete who rolled her eyes in her niece's direction. "Ignore her, she always was a wet blanket. Tell her you'll prove it because I stopped dressing her teddy bears in her B-cup bras."

He had to cover his mouth with his hand and cough wildly to hide his snigger. Once he had composed himself, he addressed the niece. "Margarete says that once she's moved on she'll stop dressing your bears in your...bras." A look of horror crossed her face, much to Kai's amusement. In his mind, it served the prim priss right. He turned once again to Margarete, liking the old girl more and more by the second. "Can you think of something that you didn't do? Something that would hold you here until you've done it?"

"Hunny, there's loads of things I didn't do. Skydiving, for one thing. Never had a threesome. Never caught an STD, though I had loads of chances of that happening. Nope. I can't think on anything."

The pen went back into his mouth. "Did you have a lover or a boyfriend maybe?"

She raised a waxed and tinted eyebrow. "Do you want my list?"

"Okay, so a lover or boyfriend that you liked more than the others?"

This seemed to stump her. Her mouth opened as if she was about to say something but then shut again. All the while, Kathleen looked like her ears were about to bleed with the way this conversations was going. Her eyes boggled and made her face take on a pig like appearance. She rammed her glasses further up her nose and stared at him hard. He pretended not to notice but didn't have to pretend not to care. If anything he was just humored by her. This was what he needed to lighten his mood up and to take his mind of the other things going on in his life. He noticed Margaret's hesitancy deepening further and decided enough was enough.

"Margaret," he said in his most caring voice, "I really need to know this. You don't want to be stuck here forever, do you? There's no real men here for you. Not like in the next life. All you need to do is tell me about this man and I can try and help you."

She folded her arms and recrossed her legs, taking care to nudge Kathleen lightly to that she shuddered and looked straight through her in alarm. "Okay. Well here it goes. I don't do boyfriends. Since I split up from my man last year I though, why go through that again? I couldn't be bothered with the legal battles again. So I decided that I needed to get my kicks while I was still young enough to get them. And between you and me, I've never been short. However, there was this one guy – a regular, as I call them. He's about your age, a medical student. He's brown haired, blue eyed and the most sincere guy I've ever met at his age. Christopher, his name was. Christopher Roberts. He was the perfect guy for me. Handsome, groomed, toned hiney. You name it, he had it. I swear, if I was going to marry again it would be with him. He liked me as much too, I could tell. Believe me, when you're my age there ain't much that gets past you no more. Besides, he was crying after my death. He knew all about me, you see. It was one of the first things I ever said to him. I said 'Don't expect too much from me. I ain't going to be tied down.' He accepted it, but I knew he always wanted more.

"So anyway, I guess I regret I never really told him he was more to me than just a guy. If things hadn't gone so wrong with my ex-hubby, we might even have had something special. Guess we didn't get a chance, huh?"

"You have a chance now," Kai said gently, indicating the telephone receiver. He met her eyes and saw that there were tears in them. He felt great sympathy for her. It couldn't have been easy for her, knowing she wanted something so badly but being afraid of being hurt again. Despite what she was saying, that was what she meant. Kai could tell. He lifted the receiver temptingly. "Just give me your number and message and I can have this all cleared for you in no time."

She looked at him for thirty full seconds before making any indication that she's even heard him. Kai had almost seen what was going through her head. One: would he believe the words were hers? Two: would it really help? Three: could she really swallow her pride? Finally she drew in a deep breath of air and let it our slowly. Old habits seemed to die hard, Kai thought.

She told him his number. "Tell him it's Margey, he'll know who you mean. And tell him I was wrong. The Lakers weren't as bad as I thought. And finally tell him...tell him I love him."

Dialing the number, Kai couldn't bring himself to look at the feisty spirit of a great – if slightly slutty- woman. "Is this Christopher Roberts I'm talking too? Okay, you won't believe this but I'm talking to Margey right now. Her spirit's trapped in this world because she has a few things to say to you. She says the Lakers are actually pretty good, even if she said otherwise. And she told me to tell you that she loves you. You're the only one she ever did." Before he had a chance to reply, Kai hung up the phone. Tact. If he let him question he would keep questioning without believing but if he didn't give him a chance, his mind would make up what his heart wanted. It had worked a million times in the past.

As expected, Margaret's spirit began to glow. Kai looked on with approval as slowly her spirit ebbed away. She grinned at him, revealing her well capped teeth. "I guess I owe you some thanks, sugar. I don't know how long I could stand being around Kathy B-cup here and her teddy bear collection." Kai smirked as the last of his client faded away with a salute.

"Well Miss. Kennedy, your aunt's moved on. The session was a success." He noticed Kathleen didn't look too convinced and kept throwing the odd glance at the chair beside her where she assumed, correctly, Margaret had sat. With the aunt gone, he just wanted the niece to get as far away from him as possible. "I guarantee she won't be ever be messing up your stuffed animals again. If you could leave your payment with Hilary at the reception, I'd be much obliged." He flashed her what he deemed his winning smile and watched as she left his office, leaving him one distrustful glance to remember her by. As soon as he was alone, the smile vanished into something short of a frown. He hated having to fake friendliness towards people who didn't even believe. He wondered why they even bothered coming if they thought he was just a fraud, a phony. If it weren't for the fact he was in desperate need of customers, he'd quite happily turn them away and let them solve the problem themselves.

Then again, if that was the case he would never meet amazing old gals like Margarete Kennedy, divorcee and man eating extrordanaire. He hoped she was now happy wherever she was; at peace. Probably with a man at either arm and a gust of wind blowing up her dress. Either way, he was glad to have helped her. He was even glad when Hilary walked in, holding the cheque up in her two hands with a wide grin on her face. He didn't need to be a genius to know what that smile meant. Miss Kathleen Kennedy mustn't have been short of a few dollars.

He walked up to her, allowing his hand so stray to her slender waste as she showed him what the number on the sheet of paper said. Ten thousand dollars. A one and four zeros. He didn't mean to- not that he minded either – but he gave her a big kiss on the cheek and looked on at his latest income. Beside him she grinned even wider.

"Looks like things really aren't as bad as you think, huh?" She asked, gesturing at the cheque Kai had taken off him. "This is like a sign or something, isn't it? Oh!" She fished in the pocket of her black work trousers and handed him a sheet of folded paper. " The phone's been ringing near enough all morning. It's like old times. I actually had to put people on hold!"

Kai saw that Hilary had taken the initiative to quickly scribble down all the names of the paper coming in for help. By the looks of it, he and Max would be fully booked all week. They wouldn't be, if they had had more people working. Still, less people employed, less people to pay, more money for him. Maybe that thought was shallow but he didn't care. They left him. Therefore he was allowed to think shallow thoughts about them. Karma, it was called in some countries.

"That's sort of weird. In a good way, of course," Kai hastened to add. "But seriously. It's as if it was like the others were keeping the clientèle away and now that they're gone we've got nothing keeping our business away." He chuckled shamefully. "Stupid, I know. But that's the way it feels."

Hilary cocked her right eyebrow. "Well Garnet's morning mood is enough to scare any client away, no matter how desperate they are to get rid of their spooks."

Kai tried to laugh but didn't quite make it. He realised he actually missed Garnet's pissy moods, even if she could be more horrible than she was in a bitchy mood. Then again, it wasn't just Garnet he was beginning to miss. Tala's usual interruptions where he dished the dirt on some scandalous exploits by one client, Mariah's occasional pranks as she tried out some new spell and Ray's constant voice of reason whenever he was facing a problem. He missed them all. He supposed that's what happened when you lived together with people for years. You grew an attachment that couldn't be explained and was sorely missed when it was broken. It was hurting him still and he supposed it was going to keep hurting for some time.

His mind drifted to his grandfather. When he was younger, if he'd pined for his friends the way he did now, Voltaire Hiwatari would scowl and sneer at him for being weak, having to rely on people, for feeling emotion. It seemed after his father died Voltaire lost all emotion. He became a shadow of his former self. The only feeling Kai could ever recall seeing in his grandfather's eyes was hate. Hate for him and hate for everything to do with him. Now, he would almost be grateful if he'd listened to Voltaire's harsh words and decided to try the 'no emotion' approach to life. Certainly he wouldn't find himself in the position he was today: feeling a loneliness that he knew even Hilary couldn't banish. His closest friends had left him. End of.

Hilary placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Kai? Is something wrong?" she asked gently, looking at him with a concerned expression.

He shrugged. "Nope. I'm going to take a break just now. If you need me I'll be in the staff room."

Hilary frowned as Kai kissed her and then left his office, leaving the door wide open after him. She could tell he hadn't been completely honest with her. She thought she'd made progress last night, too. Hadn't those tears meant anything to him? Or had they merely just been a facade, an act to make her think he was actually being honest? Well if it had been she had been fooled big time. If it hadn't been, shame on her for being so suspicious. It just...annoyed her. That was it exactly. It annoyed her. Everytime she thought he was going to finally be honest with her from then on, he went into one of his little worlds of thought and wouldn't tell her what it was he was thinking about. She did not understand it at all. _She_ was completely honest with _him._ Dangerously so, in fact. Would it hurt him so much just to take a penny for his thoughts? After all, if he was running so low on funds -

- No! She shook that thought so hard out of her head she almost felt her brain rattle. It wouldn''t do to start going down that road. After all, that was one of the things that had put then in this position in the first place. And anway, their business was about to be buzzing. She could feel it in her bones. It was as if some mysterious veil had been lifted off their premises and people could now discover the unusual way in which the Paranormal Psychiatrists could help them. Money was no longer going to be an issue with Kai anymore. That was another thing she could feel in her bones. Further down. In her heart. The very same heart that belonged to Kai Hiwatari. Whatever their problems were going to become, money wouldn't be a part of them. That, unfortunately, left the question of where their problems lay. Looking out of the window at the blazing summer sun, she wrapped her hands around her arms as a chill ran through her when she realised she had no idea.

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Please review!

jellybean-kitty


	9. The Attacker

Sorry its taken so long to update! I've been really busy lately. A lot is revealed in this chapter and it sort of takes a very unbelievable turn but then again, it is about ghosts so how believable was it in the first place? I hope you all enjoy this!

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade

The Attacker

She must have stood for a full two minutes before the sound of the phone ringing continuously reminded her that the only effective way to make it stop would be to answer it. Leaving Kai's office without a backwards glance, she went into a quick run to make it to the reception's phone before it stopped ringing. She leaned over the desk rather than running around it, saving her about ten seconds.

"Good afternoon. Paranormal Psychiatrists. Hilary speaking, how may I help you?"

Static began to scream in her ear so loudly she had to take the phone away until it calmed down into a slight crackle that was unnerving even in daylight. In the midst of the white noise she could hear voices calling her name. It sent a chill run the up the length of her spine and then back down again. Then, as if some one had been tuning the caller's voice like it was a radio station, Hilary could hear her clear as day.

Mariah sounded scared. Very scared. Almost hysterical. "Hilary? Hilary, please say you're there!"

"I am," she replied, noticing that her voice was wavering and feeling scared herself. Mariah wasn't the type of person to lose her cool easily. "What's wrong? You sound terrified!"

There was an increase in static and Hilary struggled to hear what was being said. She tried to tune her hearing but she could only catch every other word. Grabbing a pen and the closest thing she could reach to write on – an old newspaper – she began to scribble down every word she could make out. 'Surrounded', 'ghosts', 'unstoppable' and 'dead' were the only things she could understand clearly and none of them made her feel any less uneasy.

"Mariah?" She tried but there was only crackles on the other end. "Talk to me! Where are you?"

"...Help...us!" Hilary could hear. Suddenly all other noises stopped as Mariah screamed, "Kai, get Kai!"

Hilary was about to when the phone went completely silent. The whole room did, except for the sound of her breathing, which had gotten steadily harder, panting. The room began to darken from the floorboards up, going towards her, intending on taking her light too. Her eyes widened as shadows began to dance on the walls, distorting from a desk to something she couldn't make out and then back again. Her own shadow was elongating, creeping towards the approaching darkness.

Time seemed to stop as a voice sounded on the phone and it wasn't Mariah's or anyone else's that she knew. "It's coming..." The voice was an unearthly hiss, like whoever was speaking was being tormented by something that had been doing so for a very,very long time. It caused Hilary's feet to become rooted to the spot not matter how hard she tried to move them.

Deciding that if she was unable to move, she could at least scream, Hilary did so. She screamed for Kai as loudly as she could, over and over again. She kept screaming even when Kai, Max and Kenny were around her. When she felt arms, shaking her out of the hysteria she was feeling, she opened her eyes to find that everything was back to normal. There as no darkness, no weird shadows and her feet were so free had she taken ballet classes as a child she could have done pointe. Immediately she felt silly. She had no reason to but she did. Had the boys come in when it had gone dark and there were still strange goings on on the telephone that would probably have been different. Now, she would have to try and explain what had happened without the help of paranormal phenomenon and risk sounding like she should be admitted to the nearest asylum.

"I think there's something wrong with the others. I just got a call from Mariah there, but there was a whole lot of other noises and she sounded really freaked. Here, I wrote down some of the things I could make out. Everything else was drowned out by, like, white noise or something." She handed the newspaper tearing to Kai who studied it carefully, allowing his eyes to widen only a fraction but enough to tell Hilary he was slightly alarmed. "But then the room started to get dark and the shadows were getting really messed up. It all went silent on the phone and a voice said 'its coming'. Then I couldn't move my feet so I started yelling for you guys."

Kai took the phone from her and listened in. The line was dead. He hung up and used the last call button on the phone and found it was Mariah's cell. He redialed and felt his stomach lurched when he was told the number was out of service.

"It could be a prank..." Max suggested half heartedly.

As Kai tried all the other cell phones, Kenny replied, "but that doesn't explain the darkness Hilary said she saw. Or the fact that when we came in she couldn't move at all."

"I think something's up," Kai said as he replaced the phone on the receiver. "All of their phones are out of service." No one said anything as Kai folded his arms, a clear sign he was thinking up a plan. At times like this, it was better to leave their leader undisturbed. After a moment or two, Kai spoke again. "Okay. Here's what we're going to do. Max, Hilary and I will on go on with business as planned. This could be something to do with what happened to Ming Ming and if that is the case then we have to pretend like we're not phased by it. In the meantime, Kenny will try and contact Tala and company's parents or anyone else they might have been in touch with since they left. As soon as you find out something, let me know. I don't care if I'm in the middle of seeing a client, just let me know. And Hilary, if the phone rings again immediately redirect it into my office." 

"But your clients-"

"Can wait. Your safety is more important to me than wether a ghost can get to the afterlife before Big Brother comes on." Despite the circumstances Hilary felt a flush of pleasure. Kai either didn't notice or chose not to. "I don't know exactly what happened but my gut feeling tells me it was some kind of attack and it was our friends who were caught in the middle of it. I guess you're not even safe when you're away from me."

There was something in Kai's voice that made Hilary reach out for his hand. It was like sadness, only more wry. "How can we find out who's behind all this? I mean, things are getting more and more serious. Ming Ming's not leaving her room or trying to communicate with anyone in any way and we're being targeted too." She bit her lip uncertainly. There was something else she wanted to add but wasn't sure it was wise to. Then she thought fuck it. "And don't you think its strange that as soon as Garnet, Tala etcetera left, we're having clients calling left right and center? I mean, we're fully booked for the next week _and_ for the foreseeable future. I mean, I've booked some appointments three weeks in advance!"

"I sort of didn't want to say anything, but I was thinking that too," Max admitted with a nervous chuckle in Kai's direction. Kai was still pretty sensitive about them leaving and he wasn't sure what he was going to make of their opinions. He actually wasn't sure of anything when it came to Kai now. He gave his boss a wavering smile that disappeared when Kai didn't return it.

Kai folded his arms and looked from Max to Hilary and then to Max again. "Do you think that they were keeping our business away? That they were deliberately vandalising our income?"

"Indirectly, Kai," Kenny said. "It could be tied in with Ming Ming and the phonecall or it could be coincidence." Kai made to interject but Kenny cut him off. "No, Kai. You have to understand that we have opinions too and it just to happens they're pretty logical. It's a very realistic idea that our attacker put a vex on one of them so that so long as they were in the building we wouldn't have clients. You know its possible. It wouldn't be the first time something like that's happened to a business. How else do you think big company's go out of business so quickly?"

Kai folded his arms, a sure sign that he knew they were talking sense that he just didn't want to listen to. Max looked at him hopefully and he found himself looking at the heavens. "Fine. I guess you _could_ be right and it would make sense." He became aware of their skeptical looks and rolled his eyes. "Okay, so it's a very likely possibility that you're all right but that doesn't change the fact that we still don't know who's doing it. I mean, these are very complex spells and hexes. It would take an experienced practitioner to be able to carry them out as effectively as they've been." He contemplated this for a few seconds and got nowhere. "I suppose its doesn't matter. It would be next to impossible to point out a magic user from an ordinary person. Let's just stick to the plan and hope for the best. Lunch is almost over anyway so our next load of clients are going to be coming in. To recap: Max sticks to his appointments; Kenny tried to find out who our friends might have been in contact with and any information; Hilary stays at reception and directs any phonecalls to my line. Is everyone clear?"

"Yeah..." They all replied halfheartedly.

Kai sensed that they weren't too happy with his commands but what could he do? The answer was simple. Nothing. They had no leads at all. There was nothing he could think of to do but sit and wait for the next attack and hope that one, he was ready for it and two, the conjurer decided to finally launch his tricks at his direction. If it meant that it kept his friends out of danger it was a small price to pay. He frowned. If only there was some way he could prepare but how can you face a demon when you don't know what it is? If only he did. How he'd love to come face to face with the bastard and introduce him to his fists. Ten or twenty times.

Whoever it was was a coward. He at least knew one thin about him. Instead of settling their problems face to face he fought like a dirty dog, hiding in the shadows and taking out his friends first. Well, maybe Ming Ming wasn't exactly a friend but she was still partly a victim, even if she had intended on sacrificing him for the sake of her good looks or whatever it had been. The real problem he had was that there was no one that sprung to mind that he had crossed so badly that they would want to hurt him. Of course, there was always relatives of Craig East but as far as he was aware, as soon as the drug allegations and attempted murder had come into the light, they had severed all ties with him, or what was left of him anyway. That left with no one. Sure, he'd had the odd disagreement with people but never something so sever that they had claimed revenge on him. In fact, the only person that had was six feet under. He felt frustrated.

Inside his office his mood wasn't lightened any. He knew he should be grateful that he was still in a job but his mind just wasn't on his clients. What had happened to Hilary had scared him. She'd described a tradition haunting of a poltergeist, only ten times more powerful. But why would a poltergeist suddenly haunt them? They hadn't even encountered any entities with that kind of rage lately, so how could a poltergeist become attached to them? This was a mystery that was becoming more and more complex. He couldn't piece together how the phonecall that Mariah had made had caused Hilary to be attacked. Even angry spirits have their boundaries. They couldn't jump from Mariah to Hilary in the space of two seconds for no reason. Well, Kai supposed that they could but it was highly unlikely. If they had been targeting one person it was unheard of them to just jump to another for the hell of it. He doubted he'd ever been stuck in a hole as deep as this one before.

The phone on his desk rang and he jumped. He hadn't expected to be disturbed so soon. He was slightly apprehensive about which of his friends was calling him. If it was Kenny, it could either be good or bad news. If it was Hilary, it was more than likely he'd have to brace himself for some sort of attack.

He lifted the receiver and raised it to his ear. Hilary was talking. "Your grandfather's come to see you. Can I remind you you have several clients coming in to see you this afternoon?"

Kai hesitated. Then, "Cancel all my appointments."

"But Kai!"

"Do it."

Hilary sighed. "If you're sure."

It didn't take long for Voltaire to walk smugly into his office and immediately begin to examine the various items around it, particularly the broken photoframe in his bin. He didn't comment but raised his eyebrows in interest and then moved on. Kai watched him closely as he stalked around his room like a lion hunting its prey and at that moment he felt like the gazelle. The older man's cold eyes settle on Kai's and they stared at each other. It had been a common battle of wills when Kai ahd been much younger. After an argument they'd have a staring contest, which Voltaire would generally always win. There was something about the hate in his eyes that Kai found hard to look at. Probably because it was directed at him. Once again, he allowed his grandfather to win by looking away.

Voltaire smirked. "It appears there's been mutiny on the bounty, eh Kai? Tell me, where's the beautiful Garnet Granger today and her sidekick? Why is it that you're fiancé is having to hold the court now?" He chuckled as Kai narrowed his eyes, knowing that he'd hit a soft spot.

Whatever business Voltaire had in town he obviously hadn't been able to resolve it yet. Why else would Kai have the pleasure of this visit? "A little disagreement. Nothing that won't resolve itself."

His grandfather didn't say anything back but looked smug. Kai knew instantly what that look meant. Voltaire knew more than he was letting on. "Is there a reason why you're darkening my doorstep again after only being here yesterday?"

Voltaire raised an amused eyebrow. "I was just curious as to how you're getting on. I also have a question for you. Have you ever heard of a book called 'The Book of Hecate'?"

Kai sat back in his chair slightly. The Book of Hecate was the infamous black magic book used by the ancient witch herself. It apparently held all sorts of forbidden magic with spells that even the most powerful of witches would struggle with. It had been deemed so dangerous that ancient Wiccan covens had hid the book somewhere where no one would be able to find it and then allowed the memory to die with their members. How the hell did Voltaire know about it?

"It's a black magic book."

"Right," Voltaire smiled sarcastically as he mimicked Kai's words. "'It's a black magic book'. For centuries its been lost, the whereabouts forgotten with the witch coven who tried to hide it. It's rumored that this book holds the most powerful spells known to witchcraft, so powerful only a select few have the means to control them. It's said that Hecate herself wrote them during her reign. Of course, and this is the part most people don't know, Hecate almost went mad with the power she had created and foresaw the end of the world she'd created should it fall into the wrong hands so, she being as wise as she was, entrusted it into the hands of her most devoted of followers."

"I don't need the history lesson, Voltaire. I know the book's whereabouts have never been discovered and just for the record I have no interest in where it may lie. I'm a Goddamn psychiatrist, not a sorcerer."

Voltaire chuckled. "I'm not asking you where the book is. You see, Hecate overlooked one thing when she entrusted her secret. She overlooked man's desire for power. One of her followers wanted the power for his own. However, he knew that he would never be able to wield it so long as his brethren lived. So, in his will to the next generation, he left the book's hiding place encrypted in a map so that one day, when Hecate's coven was good and dead, one of his descendants would be able to find the book and have so much power his name would go down in history. Maybe not his exact name, but certainly his family name: Hiwatari."

The shock of this news made Kai get to his feet, backing against the chair. Voltaire's smile turned malicious as he watched his grandson's shock unfurl. Of course Kai had probably thought the book was a myth; a legend spread by Wiccan who dream of more than just being able to float bodies at slumber parties. He didn't know just how real this really was. He also didn't know what it meant to Kai; what it meant to his future. Or, more to the point, lack of.

"You...You don't mean to say you've got this book?" Kai demanded, slamming his fists down on the desk.

There was a scream from the reception but before Kai had a chance to react Voltaire had aimed a gun directly at his forehead, finger on the trigger and ready to pull. "Sit down, Kai," the older man said calmly with a tinge of amusement in his voice: he was enjoying himself. "That was the sound of your fiancé screaming and so long as you behave she won't have any reason to scream again."

Reluctantly he did so, glaring at Voltaire with real fury. His mind was racing to find a way out of this situation but it was coming up with a blank. If Voltaire said he'd hurt Hilary if he tried anything Kai didn't doubt he would. The only thing he could think on to do was to stall and maybe allow himself to think of a plan. "It's been you the whole time, hasn't it? It was you who cast the spell on Ming Ming."

"It was her own fault. She brought it on herself. She came to me for funding while she tried to finance her ridiculous pop career. She promised me that she would endorse Hiwatari products for the rest of her life, should she succeed and did she?" Kai didn't need to answer. "No. She dropped me like I was a burning ladle. A little taste of fame and she was hooked, like a pathetic heroin addict. She came into my office, all designer clothes and spoiled brat attitude. It seemed that being worshiped like an idol had gone to her head. She told me that she no longer needed my services. I let her go. You see, as soon as she betrayed me I saw the chance of a lifetime. I saw my chance for revenge.

"Even before she was discovered, Ming Ming was always self obsessed. Constantly looking in a mirror, checking her appearance and making sure she was still beautiful. So, I decided that I would use her the way she used me. First, however, I would need to find a way to control her, manipulate something she adored more than anything. I looked at her family, but I could see nothing compared to her face. Not even her own mother was cared for more than she cared for her beauty. That's when I knew what to do. I'd heard Mariah had dabbled in magic once or twice and I saw the opportunity. I began to pour myself over magic books. It became my obsession. I began to practice and very soon I was saying spells in my sleep. Don't forget, spell casting is in our blood."

Kai nodded. "That would explain Mariah's natural ability."

Agreeing, Voltaire nodded too. "It would indeed, and mine too. The day came when I finally saw what I needed. It was a hex spell. A spell one casts on a reflective item to steal one's soul and, as I'm sure you figured out, a person without a soul isn't very pretty. Enter Ming Ming. I watched her as she bought my hex from an antique's shop and soon after she stopped leaving her house. Enter me, now. I made her an offer she couldn't refuse. I told her to get you and I would give her back her beauty. She agreed right away. Now, I had to make sure you would devote all your attention to her. So, I cast a little spell over your building. Well, the people inside it. So long as certain people remained under your roof, client's would remember something they needed to do everything they called, or approached your pathetic little business." Kai's breath hitched in his throat at this point. So Hilary, Max and Kenny had been right. He'd been a fool not to have seen it before. "I thought you'd make the connection but luckily you had too much going on that you didn't even consider magic as the cause for one second. I knew that pretty soon you'd be desperate and accept any client you could get. Which is where Ming Ming came in. She was assigned to mess with you and your friends, to stir up some trouble. And, if I'm not mistaken, she did.

"I knew that sooner or later you'd be able to find out the solution to the problem and I told Ming Ming to make sure you were with her but, just as I hoped, she screwed up. I knew that, by your nature you'd be suspicious and you'd send one of your subordinates, not knowing what you were getting them into."

Kai's eyes opened in realisation. "That's why you came here yesterday. You wanted to make sure everything went according to plan."

"Yes. You see, I didn't trust Ming Ming's acting skills and I wanted you to be suspicious of her. That meant you would be reluctant to help your friend when there was really nothing to be worried about. I knew that some one wouldn't be happy about that and it would be the last straw from the attitude I knew you'd been having with your friends."

"How do you know about that?"

Voltaire gave a condescending look normally spared for young children. "I had people watching, of course. In short, some of your friends left, leaving them free for me to attack. And this is where The Book of Hecate comes in. My interest in magic, especially the dark arts, led me to crave more. I wanted more power and the only way I could get it was to search for the legendary book. After hunting for almost a year I had almost given up until I stumbled across it when I was searching through some of our history. A map, actually. A map encoded with an ancient Latin protection spell which I easily broke. It didn't take me long until I found the book and as soon as I had it in my hands I could feel the power it wielded.

"I saw some interesting things in that book but there were two that really caught my eye. One was a spell to bring back the dead. Of course, I had no intention of using it but I had every intention on manipulating its promise. I'd previously searched for a collection of ghosts who would be desperate for another chance to live and I found them. I enticed them with the promise that they would reborn if they carried out my orders. A grand haunting! I set them after your AWOL friends and when they got in touch with you I set them on Hilary."

"And the point in that was...?" Kai asked, angrily.

"To have some fun. I never did keep my end of the bargain, however. I exorcised every one of them when they went to claim their reward."

Kai shook his head. "You've gone to all these lengths. I'm assuming you've got a bigger plan, right? Or are you just going to kill me now?"

Voltaire laced his fingers under his chin and looked at Kai. His grin had turned into a sneer, a sneer Kai hated as much as he hated the man himself. The sneer had always meant bad news. "That leads me into the interesting spell number two, buts lets keep the suspense rolling. I'm not going to kill you Kai. At least," he sniggered, "not yet." He motioned an upwards movement with the gun. "Get up. I want you to walk out of this office and to remember that I have a gun at your head and so will Hilary."

Clenching his fists, Kai did as he was told. Voltaire followed at his back. In the foyer, he was immediately grabbed by two men in black uniforms and saw Hilary was being held in much the same way, though her mouth had been gagged and she looked scared. Not for herself but for him. He didn't doubt that her captors had been indulging her in a little bit of what Voltaire had planned for him. Without warning, he felt a needle being pushed into his skin and withing seconds he'd lost consciousness.

* * *

Please review!

jellybean-kitty


	10. The Bleeding

Sorry this had taken so long! I've been really busy all this week and have had no free time at all!

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade

The Bleeding 

It was his throbbing head that woke him up some time later. When Kai first opened his eyes he panicked as he realised he couldn't make out anything. He tried to wave his hands in front of his face but they were tied tightly to whatever it was he was lying on. When he tried to move he felt his legs, too, were bound tightly giving him a spread-eagled shape. He began to try and loosen off his bindings but they were too tight and the rope was beginning to rub his wrists raw. He stopped his useless attempt. Besides, any attempt to move made his head feel like it was going to explode. Whatever Voltaire's men had injected with it had been pretty strong. Most likely some sort of anesthetic. Had it caused temporary blindness too? He noticed then the strong pressure around his head and knew he had been blindfolded. Perhaps to try and disorientate him or cause him to panic, both of which he refused to do. As it were, he could hardly be disorientated when he wasn't able to move _and_ had a fairly good idea what was going on.

Besides, he may have lost his sight for the time being but there was nothing wrong with his hearing and as far as that went he could hear the distant sounds of voices. His hearing had always been top notch. If his vision was twenty twenty then his hearing was double that. He focussed on the voices. They were too far away for him to make out what they were saying; he wasn't a dog after all. He could tell that they were stationary and they weren't in the room or wherever it was they had tied him down. What was it they were waiting for? Had he woken up sooner than expected or did they just want to leave him here to do whatever it was they wanted to do?

That made his train of thought drift towards what Voltaire had told him earlier that day (?). Saying that, it could have been last year for all he knew. He had no concept of time when he couldn't see the daylight or the moon. He felt pretty drowsy too so that didn't help him to much. Drowsy and groggy. But about Voltaire...He had said he had something in mind for him; a spell of sorts. What could Voltaire possible want with him? If it was in the book that he claimed to have then Kai could be sure that he shouldn't be looking forward to it. Actually, he was almost scared shitless about it. Voltaire was evil. That was evident in everything he did. Therefore he wouldn't waste a minute doing something unspeakable to Kai. But he had Hilary too, didn't he? What if he was planning on hurting him through her? Kai would kill him the second he had a chance if that was the case. If Voltaire even harmed her in any way his days would be numbered. Sure, Kai may be tied up but soon enough his grandfather would slip. He was arrogant, after all. He thought he had control over Kai. To Kai's uttermost disgust – mainly at himself – he knew Voltaire still did. How else had he been able to get into his office – twice! He knew Kai still didn't have the balls to say no. Why was that? Kai was his own person; he answered to nobody. Why then did he feel it necessary to appease him?

Kai's mind clicked on something. Kenny and Max. What had happened to them? As far as he was aware, they hadn't been taken too. But he had been lost to the world for God knew how long. Voltaire surely would have taken them along on his roller coaster of fun. Why leave behind two people who would be able to get help as soon as the coast looked clear? No, Voltaire would have taken them too. But Kenny was smart. Maybe he was able to leave behind some sort of hint for some one else to find...

But Kai knew the answer would be no. Voltaire was smart too. He wouldn't have allowed Kenny the time. The only thing he could really rely on now was his own ability to stall for time and pray that some one notices that everyone who should be at work wasn't. Namely Tala, Mariah and Garnet, to name a few. After their run in, Kai bet anything they'd be thinking that it was probable for the rest of the gang to run into trouble too. If that was the case he knew he could rely on them to get help anyway they could, all grudges aside. At least, he hoped he could. If not then it was very likely that Max, Kenny, Hilary and he wouldn't be psychoanalyzing ghosts any more: they'd all be one.

Kai's ear detected that the voices were getting closer. It was time.

Soon he heard what sounded like a metal door grating across concrete. It made an unpleasant screech resound around the place he was in. Footsteps approached him and he could feel several people gathering around him. His blindfold was torn roughly from his eyes and he took the chance to survey his surroundings for a better indication of where he was. The entire place looked like it was made of stone, which would explain the chill he was now feeling as he noticed his shirt had been removed to reveal his well-sculpted torso. The room was dimly lit by candles scattered on the floor and on the walls. There were no windows where he was being kept and there was something in the air that made him feel like he was underground.

He studied the people who had entered the room. They stood silently around him. There were five of them, all dressed in long black robes with the hoods covering their faces so he wouldn't be able to identify any of them. The bagginess of their attire also meant he couldn't even tell if they were men or women or even a mixture. He felt creeped out, to say the least. They weren't even looking at him; they looked down at the floor. What were they here for? What did they plan to do?

The book!

He spotted one of the cloaked figures holding it in their hands like it was some precious possession. Well, he assumed that's what it was. The cover was made of black leather and the ages of being buried or hidden had caused it to crack and peel. There was no title on either the spine nor the front but he was almost certain he knew what it was. The Book of Hecate. The supreme witch's own spells, hidden from mankind for fear of misuse. Kai began to feel dread again.

"Kai! I'm glad you could join us in the land of the living, even if it is only temporary."

Voltaire Hiwatari appeared at the stone room's entrance. He, too, was wearing a black cloak but he didn't feel the need to hide his face. No, he would want Kai to _know_ it was he that was responsible. He'd want Kai to look in his eyes as he carried out whatever ritual he was planning. As it were, Kai was looking at him already, his eyes full of hate. If looks could kill, Voltaire would have died a million times that night.

"Where am I? Where are my friends?" Kai could feel his throat was dry and his voice was raspy. Talking made him want to vomit but he'd have to fight the feeling. A slight nod to one of his lackeys and Voltaire allowed Kai to be given some water. Kai wasn't too proud to take it. He knew that he wouldn't be able to hold much of a conversation otherwise. The cool, sweet taste made him long for more but the jug it was in was taken away from his lips.

"You are currently being held in an underground vault. I don't know if you're aware of this, but during the witch trials of America centuries ago, practicing witches would have to hide underground to escape their persecutors. There, they would be safe to practice their magics without the watchful eye of the common people, desperate to see a witch – and sometimes just a harmless person – burned at the stake. In this very room, the witches of what is now known as L.A would congregate here. This is perhaps the most powerful place in the whole of Los Angeles to carry out spells and rituals due to the traces of magic left from centuries ago. Of course, it's off limits to the public, but my influences assured me use.

"As for you friends...Well, they're safe for now. So long as you comply with my instructions the only blood shed tonight will be your own and no one else's. Actually, I think I'll bring Miss. Hilary in. Then we can start."

At the mention of Hilary's name Kai tried to sit up but the tight bindings only cut further into his skin. "Start what?!"

Voltaire stared at him evenly for ten straight seconds before answering. "I suppose it's time for me to tell you the truth. I'm old Kai and that will come as no surprise to you. But I'm also ill. I'm sure you'll remember that your father had a heart attack? Well coronary disease is a condition passed down from our entire generation, perhaps as punishment for betraying Hecate. Earlier this year, I suffered from one: a heart attack. I've not been given long to live."

"What's this got to do with me?" Kai demanded and he felt a hand that wasn't Voltaire's strike his cheek with great force. He felt the coppery taste of blood in his mouth but the drugs used to knock him out nulled any pain. He was slightly grateful as the powerful blow would have stung like something else.

"Don't interrupt me while I'm talking." Voltaire waited for Kai to settle back down into a silent glare before continuing. "I need you to help me live, Kai. Well, I need your blood. Have you ever heard of a ritual known as Bleeding?" He took Kai's silence as a 'no'. "Bleeding is one of Hecate's most forbidden spells. It involves one person giving up their life to save another. Although it's a bit more than saving. You see, your blood will give me eternal life until I so wish to end it. I will not age further and I will not die until I feel like its time for me to do so. The only real complication is that I need it to be from a living family member of the same gender and I need them to willingly sacrifice their life for mine."

Kai laughed harshly. "Like I'm going to to that!"

A smirk appeared on Voltaire's face. "Yes, I imagined that. That's why I've brought some insurance."

He clicked his fingers and two more hooded people entered the stone room, clutching a struggling Hilary who wasn't allowing their job to be easy for them. She had been gagged by gray duct take and her hands were tied behind her back. When she saw Kai tied down to the stone table her ruby eyes widened with horror. The look they shared with each other said more than any words could. They silently promised each other everything was going to be alright, even if they didn't believe it themselves.

"Now that we're all here," Voltaire removed a dagger from somewhere inside his cloak and held it at Hilary's throat, yanking her hair back to give Kai a full view. "It's your choice, Kai. Your lover or your life."

He pressed the dagger against Hilary's skin, making a trickle of blood run down her throat. She whimpered slightly but refused to let herself crumple. She would have to be strong for Kai and she knew it. She gave Kai a look that told him not to give in; not to give Voltaire what he wanted. Of course, Kai didn't want to. Not only because it would be giving up his life but also because he had no insurance that Hilary would live after he had died. But if it came down to it, he would give his life for her and willingly, just as she was for him. It didn't matter what had been going on with them before or whatever upsets they'd had in the past. When it came down to it, Kai still felt the raw love for Hilary he had felt when he'd thought she'd died those years ago when they first met. Without Hilary, he doubted he could even live.

"You're trying my patience Kai. Choose."

"If I agree, you have to swear that she'll live and you'll let her go. That includes all of my friends. Swear that you'll never harm any of them again, as long as you both live."

Voltaire put a hand on his heart in mock solemness. Kai could tell he was pleased. "I _swear_. You know that I'm a man of honor and of my word."

Kai knew he couldn't disagree. He held Voltaire's gaze for what seemed an eternity but he was sure that his defeat was already evident in his eyes before he uttered the words. The white flag had been flying as soon as Hilary had entered the room – they both knew it. "What do I need to do?"

The smile on Voltaire's lips intensified, reminding Kai of some sort of deformed crocodile. "It's very simple. Repeat after me. 'I willingly give my life for yours.' That's it. The rest is quite simple for you. All you have to do is sit back and wait to die. It shouldn't take long. Maybe a few hours. And, if I'm feeling particularly nice, I might even allow you and Hilary to spend your remaining moments alone." He removed the dagger from Hilary's throat and took a few steps towards Kai. "So what do you say?"

"I..."

"That's it!" Voltaire encouraged.

The room seemed to go silent as Kai spoke. There wasn't even the sound of breathing. "...willingly give you my..." Kai closed his eyes as he choked on the last word. "...life."

"Excellent. And I willingly take it." The cloaked figure carrying the Book stepped forward and opened it for Voltaire at the page where the ritual was written. Voltaire reached into his cloak and produced a glass phial. "_Christened in un-Holy water, the blood of the willing is tainted." _He poured the contents onto Kai's torso and smoke rose where it burned his skin, causing him to bare his teeth to fight against the pain. He looked down and saw that his skin had blistered and peeled already from where the liquid had spilled on it. "_A dagger, stained by a loved one, opens the flesh of new life." _Voltaire thrust the dagger he'd cut Hilary's throat with into Kai's skin, deep enough to cause a deep gash but not so that it was immediately fatal. Kai yelled in pain as he slowly drew the dagger from his chest to his naval. Kai tried to shut his eyes to ease the pain but it didn't work. The anesthetic had worn out and it felt like his entire body had been cut in two.

Next, some one handed Voltaire a golden chalice which he pressed against the gash in Kai's midsection so that a river of blood streamed into it. "_The water of life, given by the giver, will nourish mine for eternity." _He raised the chalice to his lips and slowly drank the blood inside it. A trickle ran down from the corners of his lips like an obscene tear. _"Now cleansed, when life expires mine lasts forever._

"And we're done." Voltaire ruffled Kai's hair fondly, like he was a child. "Now that wasn't so bad was it?" Kai didn't reply. He was breathing too heavily to be able to. His body felt ragged and the pain unreal. "Now you just have to wait until you can't bleed anymore. Then we'll be completely finished. I'll be cured _and_ you'll be dead. Killing two birds with one stone, so to speak." He gave a nod at Hilary and the people holding her removed her gag and the binding's from her hands. "It turns out that I'm actually in a very good mood. I'll leave you together as he dies. Feel free to do what you want in here. Untie him, try to stop the bleeding, anything. It won't help, however. The only way to save him would be to get him to hospital and since there's no way out of this room except through that door which will be heavily guarded."

Hilary shook her head and looked at Voltaire with tears in her eyes. "How could you do this to him? He's your grandson. Your own flesh and blood!"

Voltaire sighed impatiently. "It's _because_ he's my flesh and blood that I'm doing this. Weren't you paying attention when I was cutting your fiancé open? Look, the more you keep me here the less time you have with him. Considering he's just gave his life for you I would say that you owe it to him to at least be there with him as he dies." He shrugged. "Or maybe you don't love him as much as you claim too."

"You know that's not the case!"

"Then without further ado, I bid you farewell. Well, for now, Hilary and forever, Kai." He bowed deeply and Hilary watched him as he left with his companions behind him. She felt a shiver run down her spine as the metal door slid behind them and a bolt was forced into place.

As soon as she knew she we was completely alone, she ran over the stone table where Kai was tied down and tried to loosen the knots tying him down. It took her some time since her fingers weren't as nimble as they normally were. She was trembling too much to be able to keep them steady. Kai's wound was bleeding more and more and she didn't know how to stop it. She fumbled as she released the last knot on his hands and couldn't grip the rope tight enough. Kai winced several times when her fingers brushed against the raw skin which had been burned but the rope and he mentally kicked herself. He was in pain enough without her adding to it.

After a struggle which seemed to last forever, she finally freed him. Kai grunted and tried to sit up but she stopped him, pressing him down with both hands on his bare shoulders. "Don't move. It'll only use up your blood faster." She took off the black jumper she had been wearing over her work clothes and pressed it against the gash. "It's not much, but it'll ease the bleeding a little anyway."

"Thanks..." Kai said, taking some effort to form the words.

Hilary took his hands in hers and squeezed them tightly. His eyes were closed but she could tell he was still awake. Maybe he was conserving energy or something? "You shouldn't have gone through with this, Kai. You should have said no! Why didn't you? Why did you let him win?"

"Isn't it obvious?" His eyes were still closed but Hilary felt like he was looking at her. "I love you. Always have, always will. I couldn't live without you Hils."

"Kai..." Kai shifted position and she could see the pain he was in. She wish she could take it away. She would bear it if she could.

"I mean it. I know sometimes I can be an asshole but that doesn't change the fact that I love you. We were meant to be together. You and I both know that. That's why I know I'm not going to die. Not yet, anyway."

Hilary frowned deeply and pressed deeper into the bloody gash. The blood loss seemed to be making him delirious. "Maybe you shouldn't talk anymore..."

Kai chuckled softly. "Have you really forgotten? It's never fully left my mind. Do you remember the night we exorcised Craig East?" He didn't see her nod but he assumed she did. How could she forget? "Do you remember what I told you that night?"

The realisation dawned on Hilary instantly and despite their present situation she found herself smiling. Widely. "I do. It was the future, right? That person who let you come back told you some stuff about our lives together, didn't they?"

"Indeed." Kai smirked. "So how could that possibly come true if both of us aren't around to complete it? I also doubt that a power as high as the Judge could be wrong."

Hilary laughed in delight. "Oh Kai I could kiss you right now if it wouldn't make you yell in pain! But that doesn't answer the question of how we're going to get out of this room. I mean, there's no way to get out from the inside, right? And there's not way that anyone could find us here unless they knew where to look."

"Yeah, but that's where you're wrong. Some one does know where to look and its some one who Voltaire overlooked, just as I suspected. He's arrogant. He's bound to think nothing will stand in the way of his plan."

Not knowing who he could mean, Hilary frowned again. "But Max and Kenny are here too. I was in another room with them before I was taken here."

"It's not Max and it's not Kenny." Kai half-opened his eyes and looked up at Hilary. "Ming Ming."

* * *

Please review!

jellybean-kitty


	11. Ming Ming Helps Out

Sorry this update has taken so long! As usual, I'm really busy and Fanfiction isn't up there on my list of top-most priorities...but there's not too many chapters left to go and I am done with this.

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade

Ming Ming Helps Out 

Ming Ming cautiously opened the closet door and stepped out tentatively. She must have been in there for almost two hours after she'd heard the voices go away. She felt like a coward but those who run – or in her case hide – live to fight another day, or something like that anyway. And anyway, it wasn't like she was going to go out and tell Voltaire that she was there! She wasn't stupid. Well, in the non-academic sense anyway. What she really was was lucky. She had almost run straight into them when she'd decided to finally venture out of her room and see how the others were and what had she seen when she went down the stairs and through the door? A henchman of Voltaire's holding a gun to Hilary's head! Needless to say she made like a banana and split upstairs where she hid in Ray's closet, scared to breath and scared to leave. It was only when she heard several car doors slam outside when she came out briefly to look out of the window where she saw Voltaire watching as people got into several black cars. When he'd looked up at the window she had bolted into the closet again.

Now, that she felt the coast was clear, she decided to check everything out and find out what had gone on. There was a really bad feeling in her nerves as she realised it was too quiet. There was normally some kind of activity going on down here that carried on upstairs. Sometimes it was the sounds of people talking but more often that not she could hear the furious rattle of Kenny's fingers on the keyboard of his computer. The sound had began to become almost a relaxant for her. It was the sign that all was going well. Without it, she knew it was bad news. Like now.

Timidly, she crept down the stairs, waiting to run back up if she heard anything dodgey like a gunshot or something. So far, as she opened the door that let her into the offices, there was nothing. Nothing but silence. Carefully, she checked every room but found no one. She didn't know what was worse: that there were no henchmen here or that she was not totally alone and as defenseless as ever.

And now of all times!

What did they think she'd been doing in Ray's room anyway? Like she hadn't heard them tiptoeing about her, quietly inviting her for dinner and then leaving some outside her room. It wasn't that she'd been avoiding them its just that she'd been busy. And with good reason! She'd been looking through Mariah's things – well, snooping – and she'd found various spellbooks that had looked pretty interesting. Soon she had been hooked as she found hexes and anti-charms and thought to herself that the one she needed had to be in one of these books. It only made sense and being the sensible girl she was, she buried herself in non-stop study determined to find the counter-jinx to release her tongue from the tied up way it was. That stuck her as funny. She was literally tongue tied. It still sucked, but at the same time it was a little but funny. One day she would look back on these times and laugh. Laugh if she could.

She would. The reason she'd gone down the stairs had initially been in excitement because she'd found it. The spell she needed to talk again had been buried deep in the pages of an age worn and smelly book. The only problem? You had to be able to speak. Ming Ming frowned as she'd wondered who thought up _that_ ironic spell. So, she'd ran down the stairs only to find that there were unsavory visitors. She had ran back up just as quickly and hid.

So what was she going to do now that she was alone and the only people who could help her talk again were away with the man who'd taken the ability from her? The answer struck her immediately. She'd need to find some one to help them. If she helped some one to help them, then they could help her. Complicated, but she knew it would work. And she knew who it was she could turn to. The downside to that was that one: they'd left their home partly because of her and would probably have as little to say to her than what she could to them. Two: she had no idea where to find them.

It seemed hopeless. Well, not as hopeless as the chances of her next record flopping but almost. Firstly she needed to a plan into action. She would find a way to get into contact with them and then a way to communicate with them. The rest she would have to ad lib and that was fine by her since there'd been many a concert where she'd had to improvise due to technical difficulties. For some reason it seemed a lot more daunting to do it in front of Kai's friends than ten thousand spectators. She had no doubts it was because the former seemed to hate her.

This all reminded her of the time when she'd first started to have a career in pop music: it was equally as difficult. Back then, she was a nobody. Just a little girl with mediocre talent but extraordinary good looks. Back then she'd also been humbled by a middle-class upbringing and failure after failure. She'd had to go to producer after producer and be turned down time after time. At that point, she'd almost thought of giving up her dream and returning to college to get some sort of qualifications that she hadn't been able to receive after she'd dropped out. Then he'd come like a knight in shining Armani. Voltaire Hiwatari. Her last hope at fame. She needed money and he had plenty to spare. All it had cost her was to endorse his products if she was able to break the charts and she had on both accounts. For a while, at least. But then her income had began to double, treble almost instantaneously and before long she discovered she didn't need Voltaire anymore. In fact, she didn't need anyone. She paid back her debts and left him behind her as she took off into the height of fame.

As it was, she forgot everyone from her past life. Her friends, her family, the people who'd helped her on her way. She didn't need them anymore. She was the hottest thing since Mount Etna erupted. Everyone wanted to know her; well everyone who was anyone. Why should she bother with the nobodies anymore? Especially since most of the nobodies had held her back. Her parents had been two of the such and she had never forgot it. Follow your dream, they had told her and when she did they tried to make her change her mind. Get a 'normal' job, they had told her. Fame would be the end of her, they said. It hadn't . Well not directly. It wasn't the end yet. She could always mime for the rest of life. When she thought about it, she'd been miming for most of her life, so what would have changed?

The phone rang in the reception and her heart jumped. She ran over to it and picked it up. She tried to say hello but to her impatience nothing came out. She stamped her feet in annoyance while the other end started to ask for service. Well this was going to be one customer who would _not _satisfied. She hung up the phone while they were in mid-sentence. She didn't have time to bother with other people's problems. Her own were important enough.

Then an idea struck her.

If she could call Mariah then maybe they'd come over thinking something was wrong when no one said anything on the line. It was a long shot but so had been the chances of her pop rival knocking her off the top spot in the charts and that had happened. She busied herself in Hilary's phonebook which was lying open on the reception desk and looked up 'M' for Mariah. She ran a finger along all the names but couldn't find Mariah's anywhere. On closer inspection she saw that no-one's names began with 'M', apart from a few people. There was Ellen McDonalds, Janie Mearns, John Masters, Martin Morrow but no Mariah. Then it struck Ming Ming. She was no fool. Hilary was obviously filing her address by order of _surname_. Ming Ming laughed silently to herself. Hilary could be so silly sometimes. What an odd way to store people's names. Shrugging, she carried on regardless and looked up 'H' for Hiwatari. She was almost one hundred per cent sure that would be Mariah's surname, since she was Kai's cousin. For once, she was right. In the third line from the bottom was Mariah Hiwatari and her contact details.

Dialing the number, she waited until Mariah picked up and then hung up quickly. She did it again, but stayed on the line long enough to hear Mariah ask "Kai, are you there?" in a worried voice. Once again she ended the call. One last time she dialed the number again and waited until she could hear Mariah's voice again. This time she seemed really worried and Ming Ming couldn't help but wonder if something had happened that she didn't know about. Not really caring if it had, she took a paper weight from the desk and hurled it through the reception window, holding the phone up to catch the sound of the smashing glass. Smiling innocently to herself she hung up the phone followed Mariah's frantic cries. As she expected, the receiver hadn't hung up two seconds before it was ringing. She didn't answer it. She let it ring on and on until it hung up. Then she placed the phone off of the hook with a satisfied nod and waited.

* * *

And waited.

* * *

And waited until she was bored senseless. She looked at the pure silver and diamond studded watch around her wrists and was horrified to find she'd been sitting behind Hilary's reception desk for almost three hours. How time flies. Having nothing else to do, she began to roll up paper balls and try to get them into the wastepaper bin and failed miserably. If she could scream in frustration she would have broken every other window.

Then she heard voices! _Halle-freaking-lujah, _she wanted to sing. It was about time. It didn't strike her that it could have been Voltaire coming back to check no one was left behind but that was just as well since she wouldn't have made it upstairs in time. The people approaching unlocked the door and entered the building in less time it would have taken her to run up the stairs.

"Just _what_ is she going here?" The give-away voice of Garnet demanded as she walked in to see Ming Ming miss the paper bin again.

Ming Ming looked at them all as Kai's old friends catiously walked into the reception area, looking around in an almost nostalgic way, some of them barely seeing her at all. It was only Garnet whose anger-filled eyes didn't leave her and then Mariah's as she fought to get in front of all them all.

She looked pleadingly at Ming Ming, her amber eyes glistening with tears of worry with Ray behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders to calm her down. "Ming Ming what's wrong? What's happened? Talk to me, please!"

Ming Ming rolled her eyes as Tyson said, "Didn't she lose her voice or something?"

With his arms folded and eying her suspiciously, Tala stepped forward. "You like you've got something to tell us. If I were you I'd find a pen and paper fast and tell us everything you know before we leave again."

The coldness in his voice sent a chill down Ming Ming's spine but it was enough to send a light bulb flashing in her head. She grabbed a pen and paper and scribbled down furiously, "Voltiar took Kai and everyone to this place to do a ritchool on him."

"He's taken them?" Tyson demanded. "And you've spelled ritual and Voltaire wrong."

Ming Ming nodded furiously and scribbled again. "I know where they are but you won't get in easily. Get cops and stuff. But there won't be much time before Kai dies."

"Do you mean they've got cops and you have bad grammar or that we should get cops ourselves?" Tyson asked.

"What does it matter?" Mariah exclaimed. She had known something was wrong before she'd got a call on her mobile. Secretly, Max had been texting her a few times a day to check everything was alright and she had done the same. Today there had been none. "Kai's in trouble, according to her. We have to help him somehow and we're just wasting time standing her."

Garnet folded her arms and narrowed her eyes distrustfully at Ming Ming. "How do we know she's not lying. This could be a trap for all of us and she's leading us right into it."

"With everything that's gone on? Don't be so suspicious. Besides what would anyone want with us? We're just the cronies, especially to Voltaire. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't know we even existed. To Voltaire we'll just be insignificant pawns to Kai; people that don't even need to be accounted for unless we fall into some sort of plan which I think we already have." Ming Ming was nodding furiously as Mariah spoke and she began to feel some pity for the popstar. She was trying so desperately to help the people who hated her – even if it was for her own selfish wellbeing(of which Mariah had no doubt). "Why shouldn't we trust her? She's got more to get out of helping us than not."

Ray rubbed his head and looked at his friends. He could see they were dangerously close to dividing once again. "I agree with you. But whatever we do we should do it together. It was splitting up that got us into this situation in the first place. So we'll take a vote. To trust or not to trust Ming Ming." He turned to her and stared coldly. "Bear in mind that if you're lying what we'll do to you will make Voltaire's punishment look like a preschool prank. All in favour?" It was almost a majority with only Garnet keeping her hand firmly by her side. After several unhappy looks she sighed and raised her hand slightly. "So its settled."

"We'll call up Bryan and Ian," Tala said, taking charge. "They'll be able to get police back up for Kai when we find the place Voltaire took him. Medical support too, since according to Ming Ming he'll be close to death." He sighed. "We shouldn't have walked out on him. I've been sore at myself ever since. If he dies...I'll blame myself."

No one replied. In truth, they would all blame themselves. Leaving had been a hasty and foolish decision and everyone of them knew it. They'd left without any real idea what was going on or any protection against supernatural nasties which it had turned out they had needed badly. As a result, all of them had nearly been injured if it hadn't been for Mariah's magical knowledge and her idea of creating a protection circle out of the tea leaves from the courtesy tea bags the hotel catering staff had left in their rooms. Once the attack had calmed down it had taken a lot of quick thinking to explain away the tea laves scattered throughout the room and various broken lamps and furniture. Luckily, it wasn't the first time the hotel's rooms had been ransacked by 'vandals' so their story of having came in with it like that had been bought without much doubt.

"Look, what's happened has happened," Garnet said. "But at least we can stop anything else happening. At least we can if we don't stand around looking like dummies. That means move people!"

As if they had been in some kind of trance, they all sprang into action. Ming Ming wrote a message on a piece of paper and showed it to Tyson. He shouted out the message to everyone and Tala got on his cell phone intermediately to alert Ian and Bryan – their police contacts who had helped them out several times in the past by providing support they couldn't have asked for from any other officer.

"They're in the cordoned off crypts at Springington Cemetery, just inside the city limits. Voltaire got the key to it from some friends in the L.A council and he took Kai their to perform some sort of forbidden ritual."

Mariah frowned as they left the offices and got into various cars, she with Ming Ming and Ray. "Springington Crypts? That's were witches used to hide in the underground vaults to escape prosecution. It was made off limits to the public because it was felt that it changed people to be inside. It was all made up by the tour guides, of course. The changing people, I mean. It's a very real historically magic place, but in order to keep the paranoia of the people at a low the council locked it up and forbade entrance. Its one of the most powerful places in America to carry out witchcraft. It sort of makes me nervous. No. Thats a lie. I'm like a hair's width away from panic. If Voltaire took Kai there then he has something really powerful in mind, something forbidden. We need to get there ASAP!"

Ray accelerated. "That's the plan."

* * *

Max rammed into the locked door one last time and achieved nothing but numbing his shoulder even more. He sighed in frustration. Hilary had been taken away almost a half hour ago and they hadn't heard anything since. Actually, they hadn't heard anything at all. He and Kenny had just been marched at gunpoint from their offices and forced into cars then taken to this place where they'd spent hours with Hilary trying to look for a way out or a clue as to why they were there. The only thing Hilary could tell them was that it was Voltaire who was involved and that Kai was taken too. That stumped them. Kai had been taken yet he wasn't being held with them in this dingy room. To Max, it didn't make any sense. What would Voltaire want with Kai anyway? Not knowing the answer gave him creeps up his spine he would rather not have. 

Hilary was also gone too. Nothing had been said to them that explained what was happening, only that they wanted Hilary and she had gone willingly, providing they lowered their guns. Not a word had been said about where she was being taken and they hadn't found out anything since. Max was starting to get antsy and worried, both about Kai and Hilary. If he had been taken separately and then Hilary taken, there was no telling what Voltaire was trying to do.

"I told you it wouldn't work," Kenny said with a hint of I-told-you-so. Max looked at him no with no humor.

"It's better than just sitting here." He sat down beside his bespectacled friend and tasted the bitter sting of defeat. While Max tried to physically find a way out Kenny had been mentally evaluating the room and looking for a solution. "How's it going for you?"

Kenny shook his head. "Not good. It looks like there's no way out at all except for the door there. There's also no guards outside for us to trick either, so right now I'd say our chances of getting out of here are very slim without help from the outside world since neither of us can pick a lock."

Max propped his head up on his knees and looked at the floor. "I wonder if they took Ming Ming. Maybe she was helping them all this time..."

"I don't think so. She's not a very good actress. After all, Kai saw through her almost right away. I think she heard Voltaire's voice and hid or something so she could help us out once he'd gone." Max gave him a skeptical look and Kenny looked away awkwardly. It didn't hurt to hope. "Or she was hiding so he wouldn't find her and if she does end up helping us it was only for her own selfish purpose."

"That's better," Max said with a nod and a slight laugh. "I don't see Ming Ming doing anything for anyone unless there's something in it for her."

Kenny returned his smile weakly but it disappeared when he heard a commotion outside their prison. He and Max looked at each other excitedly and within seconds were at the door, listening harder. Kenny heard the distinctive sound of Tala's gruff voice and began banging on their door. Max joined in and shouted for him.

"Get back," Max heard Ian say and knew that whatever was going on was serious if they had to get their police friends involved. He dragged Kenny back from the door and two gun shots were fired into it. The metal door swung open and they were free. Max was sure he'd never felt such relief in all his life. There were a few unconscious cloaked bodies lying on the floor which he had to step over to get into the corridor

"What's going on?" Kenny asked after Garnet had checked them over for possible injuries and announced them a-okay.

Tala turned to them both. "Voltaire's going to kill Kai, or so Ming Ming says. She told us you were being kept here and for some reason beyond me, we decided to trust her. Turns out it was worthwhile. So far, anyway." He nudged one of the bodies with his foot. "This place is pretty heavily guarded anyway to ignore. If the bastard's not got something planned then I'll be fucked sideways." He gave a brief nod to them both. "Forgive the briefness of this meeting but we better go find Kai before its too late, to use dramatics."

Without waiting for a reply, Tala took off down the stone corridor with Ian, Bryan and Ray at his back. He wasn't sure where to look and so had to rely on instinct instead. So far, nothing seemed right but what did in this situation? He had a feeling that he was getting closer; call it best friend intuition, though he hadn't been acting like one lately. He was fairly certain that if he saved Kai's life then that may be overlooked when it came to asking to come back.

A gun cocked behind him and he didn't need to turn around to see who was holding it. Nor that he was very unhappy. Tala froze and put his hands up.

"That's right, turn around." Voltaire waited until he'd done so and saw that his companions had done the same. "Don't tell me you really thought it would be that easy?" He laughed harshly. "I thought this would happen. Don't you think I wouldn't have planned ahead?!"

"Doesn't hurt to try," Tala said with a smirk. "And we've taken out pretty much all of your henchmen. There'll be more backup arriving soon too so do you think you can take them out as well?" He saw Voltaire's hand waver slightly. "I guess not."

Without warning there was a dull thud and the old man slunk to the floor. Behind him, looking fairly pleased with herself, Ming Ming stood holding a plank of wood she'd picked up from the room Max had been held in for self defense. She gave everyone a shrug of nonchalance and stepped over Voltaire's body, scooping up his gun as she did so.

"Nice," Ray said, grinning widely. "But we've still got a boss to rescue to without further ado, shall we?"

As an answer, Tala took off at a run.

* * *

Please review!

jellybean-kitty xx


	12. Deciding An Ending

This is the last chapter of BS:SR. I didn't think it would end so soon but it just came and I thought why make it longer when I'm satisfied with the way it is? I don't know, I just think the conclusions is as fitting as I'm going to get it, taking on board a certain review left by sweetgyhnal where a very vaild point was made. When you read it you'll see what I mean:P

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this and its not a let down, or seems rushed or whatever.

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade

Deciding An Ending

Squeezing his hand tightly, Hilary looked down at Kai's sleeping form. She wasn't sure just when he'd lost consciousness but she knew now that at least he wasn't in pain. There had been so much more she'd wanted to tell him, things she's wanted to say but hadn't been able to find the words that fit. It wasn't like she could explain it. Knowing Kai, feeling what it was she felt for him was like being angry and sad, but also happy and cheerful all the time. Such oxymoronic terms didn't make sense to her and she was sure they'd make even less sense to him. That being so, it was the closest she could get to summing up her feelings. Sure, Kai did things that made her mad but he did more things to make her feel like she was the only person in the world who mattered.

Kai's face stiffened into a frown and Hilary could almost feel the pain that had caused his wince. Gently she tried to manoeuvre his body in a more comfortable even though she was sure nothing she could do would make a difference to his well-being. Well, if she could get him to a hospitable then that would obviously make everything better but getting out of the room – or tomb, she feared it was to become – was going to be impossible without some one on the other side to help.

"Just try to hold on a little while longer," she murmured to him, refolding the jumper over his gaping gash to try and stem the blood again. It helped a bit, but not enough to keep him alive overnight. It was doubtful it would even keep him alive for another few hours. Already his body was going cold.

His earlier words ran through her mind. Although they'd been able to calm her nerves and settle her down when he's told her about that person's prophecy now, as time was going on, she was beginning to get doubtful that it was even true at all. Prophecies – or what she understood about them – were only true if certain things happened. In mathematical terms, to get to C – the prophecy – you had to go through A and B first of all. To Hilary, if this wasn't B she didn't know what was. Therefore there was no guarantee that he was going to survive this, even if he did think he would. And if he didn't survive...

She didn't want to think about that. There was no point in contemplating the worst when she needed to keep positive. There was still time for Kai to live. Plenty of it. Well, enough to know that there was still some hope, even if it was as faint as a candle in the depths of deep space.

Kai cracked open an eye and studied Hilary's worried face. She truly was beautiful and he didn't need to be half dead to realise that. It was the way she looked so vulnerable that he just wanted to reach up and embrace her. What he wouldn't give to kiss the lips her teeth were nibbling on or stroke frown marks between her eyebrows.

"Hey..." He said quietly, his voice husky. "It's going to be okay. I told you that."

Hilary smiled down at him sadly, not willing to break his optimism but telling him what she really thought. She stroked his hand gently. "Sure it will be."

"Say it like you mean it." She couldn't and he knew it but that was okay because he knew it was true.

"Kai-"

"Shh!" He cut her off with a raised hand. Somewhere outside Kai could hear the slamming of feet running at top speed. As a runner in his high school days that sound was unmistakable to him. He tried to sit up to get a better listen but didn't have the energy. He could see Hilary straining to make out anything. "Some one's coming," he told her as way of explanation. "Closer!"

Hilary felt her breath catch in her throat. She didn't know wether it would be good news or not but she was willing to believe it couldn't possibly get any worse no matter who it was. She stood up and went to the door to get a better listen. She could faintly make out voices shouting her name and Kai's. The voices were undefinable but she didn't care. She'd take the risk, no matter who it was.

She banged on the door with all her might. "We're in here!" The people were coming closer and she could hear them clearer. There was no doubt in her mind that one of the voices was Tala's deep husky tones. "Tala we're in here!" She cried louder, smacking the door with her palms.

"Hilary!" He replied on the other side. "Is Kai with you?"

"Yeah but he's injured and bleeding. He needs serious medical help ASAP. It was this thing Voltaire did to him; some sort of ritual!"

On the other side of the door, Tala and Ray looked for the latch that would open it. Strength along wouldn't do it; the door had to be made of several centimeters of reinforced steel. The purpose of the door was clear – to keep people in. He spied the latch on it and frowned. It was held in place by a new looking padlock. Anyone else would need a key for it, but when he inspected it he knew a little bit of lock picking would do the trick.

"Hils, do you have a hair pin?"

Hilary frowned and reached into her neat French roll, or what _had_ been a neat French roll, and slid out one of the pins holding it in place. "I do, why?"

"Slide it under the door so I can pick the lock with it," Tala replied. Once she had done so, he immediately set to work with it. He bent it slightly and pushed it in gently through the narrow slit. He was glad Hilary used dainty pins otherwise he was doubtful he would have been able to slide it in. A few twists and turns later the lock sprang open and he tore it off and flung it onto the ground where it clattered and echoed through the bare and aged corridors. He slid the latch over and together, he and Ray pushed the door open as far as it would go, trying not to let the grinding creak give him the shivers he'd get if some one ran their nails down a blackboard though the noise was one in the same.

When the door to freedom had opened, Hilary flung herself at both Tala and Ray, hugging them both tightly. "Guys, I was beginning to think you weren't going to come!"

"And miss a Hilary hug?" Ray asked snorting. "Not likely."

Tala's eyes caught hold of Kai's once again unconscious form and he was over at his friend's side in a flash checking his pulse for life and once he was sure he had it, surveying the damage done. "What happened?" He demanded.

"Voltaire did this thing called the 'Bleeding' on Kai. It's an ancient, forbidden spell thats supposed to give him eternal life in exchange for Kai's. Basically, as Kai's bleeding to death Voltaire's life's prolonging."

Tala inspected the wound. "It's not immediately grave but it's one which won't stop bleeding unless its treated by doctors with stitches. Voltaire knew what he was doing." He picked Kai's body up bridal style. "Let's not waste any more time getting him the help he needs. I don't know how long he's been like this for but judging by the amount of blood I'm guessing quite a while, am I right?" Hilary grunted her reply. "I thought as much. Voltaire's one sadistic bastard for doing this to his own grandson. And I'm guessing there's even more that we don't know which we've played right into. I'm sure its no coincidence that he pounced as soon as we'd all walked out."

Sensing Tala's anger at himself, Hilary placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't blame yourself. None of us saw this coming."

The three friends ran at a steady pace along the stony halls until they reached the fresh air outside where already waiting for them were police cars and an ambulance crew with a stretcher prepared for any casualties. Tala handed Kai over them and let them take care of his closest friend, which he knew they would. Hilary got into the ambulance with them and after a quick assessment they were off in the direction of the L.A General Hospital. He wasn't sure what came over him, but as he watched the ambulance drive off with Kai and the police cars leave with Voltaire and his cult following in the opposite direction, he had the weirdest sensation that everything was going to be alright.

* * *

It was two days after being rescued and patched up and Kai was sitting up in his hospital bed reading the local paper. The headline was 'Business Tycoon's Arrest Over Attempted Murder' and on it was picture of his grandfather wearing handcuffs and being led by several burly policeman into their local prison for holding until he could be tried. His eyes couldn't be bothered reading the entire article, but the gist of it was that the journalist writing it believed that Voltaire had attempted to kill his grandson in a sudden burst of insanity and try to sacrifice him to some sort of pagan God. It had made Kai laugh how close the journalist had been to the truth, the main difference being that the insanity hadn't been 'a sudden burst' at all. With the evidence against him so high, Voltaire had been heard to have said he was 'pleading guilty under temporary insanity' and Kai had no doubts he was apt to get a lighter sentence with this plea. Not that it bothered him too much. Voltaire wasn't long for this world anyway, so it didn't matter what jail sentence he got, although if Kai had said he wouldn't have loved to see Voltaire's last moments of life being spent behind bars he would be a liar.

Kai smirked as he realised that Ming Ming's name wasn't present anywhere in this article and figured this was one spot light she would be bowing out of. Thing hadn't ended to badly for her, as he had been told the previous day by Mariah who'd visited with a large bunch of flowers and chocolates which she and Garnet finished. In a bid to make amends, Mariah had helped Ming Ming with the undoing spell the popstar had found in her spellbooks – and there had been a tone of annoyance in Mariah's voice that Ming Ming had been looking through the stuff she'd left behind – and within minutes of completion she had her voice back and was wagging her tongue until those who would listen's ears bled. He'd been told with a wink from Garnet that Kenny was taking her out tonight for dinner and when he heard this he couldn't help but smile at the picture of the unlikely couple in his head.

As for his friends...well things had initially been awkward, awkward being an understatement. Many apologies had been given all round and he knew that each of them truly was sorry for walking out on him, though he was secretly glad since now his business was booming again but that was something he wasn't willing to tell them. Forgiving them hadn't been as hard as he'd thought it would be. They had technically saved his life, after all and things like that tend to put forgiveness high up on a person's list of priorities. Even so, there were occasions when some of them couldn't meet his eye. Tala especially had been bad for this. Kai knew Tala almost better than he knew himself and it wasn't hard for him to tell that Tala personally blamed himself for all that happened. If Kai had died, Tala would see himself as the murderer. Unfortunately, there wasn't much Kai could do about this other than wait it out until Tala could accept both forgiveness from Kai and also forgiveness from himself, the latter, Kai was sure, would prove to be the most difficult.

As far as he was aware, they were all coping fine without him back at PP and Kai was slightly glad for the chance to be able to step away from the building, even if it was only until he was well enough to return home which would only be a further few days. He was to stay in hospital so the staff could keep an eye on his iron levels after he'd lost so much blood and had had to have a transfusion from a donor. Everything was normal, they'd assured him adamantly, but they just liked to make sure before he was dismissed. The food he was given with surplus iron shared a similar taste with the sole of an overworn shoe (though he'd never personally licked one to see if this was a valid comparison) but if it meant he would be healthy he supposed he would just have to deal with it like a man.

"What are you thinking about?" Hilary's voice interrupted his thoughts and gently brought him back to earth.

He shrugged mysteriously. "Things, in general. You know, how after all is said and done, everything's still worked out for the best, on the whole."

Hilary was silent as she read the article Kai had been reading a few moments before, only she was able to read it more thoroughly. Upon arrival at the hospital, she'd been the one who'd had to explain to the staff what had happened in as believable a way as possible. Her story had been the one that had been leaked to the paper and was also going to be the one Voltaire adopted too, though he was going to add in one or two things extra, she imagined. When the surgeons had been operating on Kai, there had always been a nagging voice in her head telling her that things were going to go wrong and that after all her efforts she was still going to lose the only man she'd ever truly loved. Indeed, there had been a moment or two when she could have sworn that the heart monitor had deadlined though members of the nursing staff assured her this had only been her imagination as these type of wounds were routine procedures and it was very rarely that any complications occurred at all.

Until Kai had been settled into bed that night with a mountain load of morphine and an IV connected to his wrist, she had refused to leave the hospital. Even after that it had only been on Ray's insistence that she got some rest that she had finally caved in and agreed to let him take her home. He even gave up his place in Mariah's bed so that Hilary didn't have to sleep alone that night and as she had fallen asleep to the gentle sound of Mariah's breathing she had never been so grateful to have friends as caring and considerate as the ones she had then. As soon as the sun had rose the next morning, Hilary had gotten up and out to the hospital in time for Kai awaking for breakfast. She could tell he was glad to see her and even happier to see that she was alright, though no harm had ever really came to her. After his persistent questioning that she was okay she had eased his worrying by informing him she'd been made to take a medical check-up by the nurses to make sure she wasn't hurt in any way, though Hilary suspected – and so did Kai, albeit silently – that it was really to ensure she wasn't a psychological wreck after her ordeal.

The very idea of that was laughable. After all, Hilary had been attacked and made comatose by her own boyfriend not too long ago and had she been giving psychological screenings then? The answer of course was no.

"I'm almost surprised he's gone so quietly. I suppose he knew there wasn't any alternative since he had four people who could give evidence against him, and more serious stuff than what's against him right now," Hilary voiced, indicating the article and Voltaire's picture. "I mean, if they would have found out the _real_ story, like with the book and everything I think there would have been an uproar of some sorts."

Kai grunted his reply. She was right. People could be fickle about what they didn't understand. Ming Ming had taken the book with her when they'd left the tombs and handed it over to Mariah, who, being a Hiwatari, had rightful heritage to it just as much as he did. With his permission she'd destroyed it so that the dark spells could never be used against anyone else again. As far as he had been told, all that remained of the forbidden dark magic book was a pile of ash and he wasn't regretful of that one bit. Event thinking about it caused him to shiver unpleasantly. To think that a book could have caused his death was as much as unsettling a thought as any.

To him, it was the fact that he worked in such close proximity to the supernatural everyday. It was his life, he didn't expect it to be his death. Especially since he'd be pretty much guaranteed he was going to live to a ripe old age, raise a family, marry Hilary. Perhaps it was foolish to live his life in accordance to some prophecy. After all, there was no positive guarantee that it was going to come true. There had to be hundreds of prophecies made daily by higher powers and not all of them came true. In fact, most only came true if a person stuck to the path which was written for them. If they strayed from that path then their future was undefinable, which begged the question had he? Was his future undefinable now? The thought wasn't as unsettling as he'd first expected. He had control, and that always had to be a good thing.

"Still," Hilary continued, almost to herself, "who am I to complain. I mean, every thing's turned out alright considering."

"I suppose it has," Kai agreed, shifting his position so he was sitting upright. "Of course, I'm waiting for the day when Tala can meet me in the eye for more than two seconds. It's not like him. I mean, so he screwed up. We all do. I've told him that already but he just won't accept that I've forgiven him. To be honest, the sooner we can all move on from this the better. I just want things to go back to the way they were. You guys have pretty much forgiven me for all the shit I put you through, haven't you? Just because the consequences were a little bit more dire doesn't mean we all shouldn't practice what we preach."

Sensing the dismay in his voice Hilary felt inclined to say something to console him. "He feels responsible. He thinks its his sole duty to watch your back and since he's failed because of his own hot hotheadedness he thinks he should have to atone for his mistakes or whatever. You know Tala more than anyone so you know his reasons behind it. Things will get better, though, you'll see."

He looked out of the window and felt slightly annoyed that he had to be kept indoors when the sun was shining to brightly outside. The weather was glorious and if it hadn't been from the fan running full power in the corner of the room he was certain it would be stifling. Thinking about this, he laughed out loud and was given a curious look from Hilary. "I'm just thinking I can't believe I'm wishing it was colder already. I mean, after almost freezing to death in the tombs I would have thought I'd never get tired of heat."

Hilary joined in his laughter with the merry tones of her own. "Yeah, that's quite weird. I'm feeling the heat myself. Well, at least summer won't last much longer and we can get into winter. I must say, I can't wait for the snow after such a heatwave of a summer..." She trailed off when Kai took her hand gently and looked at her. She found herself captured in his gaze in a way she'd never been before.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking, Hilary," He began, licking his lips, "when I was in the tombs you were all I could think about. There's no point in me insulting your intelligence but I there were a few moments when I thought I was about to die. Do you know what I was thinking about when they came?"

"No." Hilary's voice came out as a hoarse whisper and she quickly poured herself a glass of the iced water the nurses had left for Kai, knowing he wouldn't mind. What's hers was his and all that.

"I was thinking, 'I can't believe I'm going to die and not have married her.' That was all that was running through my head. I could feel your hand in mine and I knew that I never wanted it to leave. I realised that for me to have maybe given up my only chance to call you my wife made me the biggest fool that ever walked the earth."

Hilary smiled teasingly. "Even bigger than Voltaire?"

He smirked in return. "Ten times bigger than Voltaire."

"But we've resolved that all now, right?" She asked, thinking back to their date at the fountain garden where they'd roleplayed the entire thing. That night had been one of her most happiest moment to date: it had felt like things were finally going to happen after despairing about them for so long. "We've even set a date for it and everything. It's all planned so all we have to do is start making bookings and ordering dresses et cetera."

Kai sat back in his bed again and closed his eyes. "Sure we have, but there's more to it than that. You can't deny that over time we've drifted apart. I don't doubt for one second that we both don't love each other, but that doesn't mean we're still as close as we were when we first planned to get married. And before you say anything, I know its all my fault. You...You've been great to put up with me for so long. I think any other girl would have walked out on me long before now."

Hilary smiled wryly, "Any other girl wouldn't have been in love with you as much as me. Even if I'd have wanted to walk out – and I'd considered it many a time – I wouldn't have been able to."

The shock of this statement didn't show in Kai's eyes but he sure as hell felt it. He had no idea things had gotten _that _bad for her to have considered leaving him. Well, that didn't matter; it was in the past. They were in the present now and he was going to deal with it likewise. "What I'm really trying to say, is will you marry me?"

Hilary closed her eyes as she smiled and circled her thumbs over his hands. When she opened them there were tears lining the lids, threatening to spill. "Of course I will."

Kai leaned towards her and kissed her gently, the tender way he used to before all the madness between them had started and she relished the feeling. The soft way his tongue rubbed the roof of her mouth made a warm shiver run down her spine more than ever. When he broke away, he looked at her with his eyes looking like there was nothing else in the world that mattered to him.

"It's not going to be easy, you know. We're going to have to start all over again, from the very beginning. But I think you already know that anyway. It's going to be hard, but I'm willing to work at it if you are."

Hilary removed her hands from his and instead wrapped them around his neck. "You know I am."

* * *

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